DUKE 

UNIVERSITY 

LIBRARY 

Treasure  %oom 

UTOPIA 

Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 
in  2010  witii  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


littp://www.arcliive.org/details/youngwestsequeltOOsclii 


Patent  Applied  for. 

YOUNG  WEST, 

A  SEQUEL  TO 

EDWARD  BELLAMY'S  CELEBRATED  NOVeL 

LOOKING   BACKWARD. 

BV 

SOLOMON    SCHINDLER. 


liOSTON  : 

ARENA  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 

Copley  Square, 

1S94. 


Copyright   1S94, 

1!Y 

ARENA  PUHLISHIN(;   COMPANY. 
All  rights  reserved. 


Arena  Press. 


(Km 


YOUNG  WEST. 


CHAPTER  I. 


A  nickname,  once  bestowed  upon  a  man, 
clings  to  him  forever.  I  am  known  as  "  Young 
West  "  all  over  the  land,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  I  am  seventy  years  of  age.  My  teach- 
ers and  schoolmates  used  to  call  me  "  Young 
West."  That  was  all  very  well  at  that  period 
of  life.  If  a  person  is  to  be  distinctively  quali- 
tied  by  the  adjective  "  Young,"  childhood  and 
youth  are  proper  seasons  for  its  application; 
but  when  people  continued  to  call  me  "  Young 
West  "  long  after  I  reached  manhood,  it  became 
aggravating.  Is  it  not  absurd  that  those  who 
know  me  or  of  me  still  persist  in  calling  me 
"  Young  West "  even  now  that  my  hair  has 
turned  snow-white  ?  I  sometimes  wonder  if  to 
crown  the  absurdity  with  an  anti-climax,  the 
words :  "  This  is  all  that  remained  of  Younfr 
West,  who  died  in  the  year  —  at  the  age  of 
seventy,  eighty,  ninety  "  (as  the  case  may  be), 
will  be  inscribed  upon  the  urn  containing  my 
ashes.  ^ij 


YOUNG  WEST. 


I  must  confess  that  the  nickname,  though  it 
was  bestowed  upon  me  good  humoiedly  and  was 
not  sucfo-estive  of  any  trait  of  character,  either 
good,  bad,  or  indifferent,  used  to  annoy  me 
greatly,  and  particularly  when  persons,  who 
were  my  juniors  by  many  years,  applied  it  to 
me.  Perhaps  I  had  grown  more  sensitive  than 
was  proper,  but  I  can  barely  describe  my  morti- 
fication, when  in  the  presidential  campaign, 
which  ultimately  seated  me  upon  the  much 
coveted  chair,  the  rallying  cry  was  :  "  Young 
West  against  Mr.  Blank."  How  I  fumed  and 
fretted  when  the  papers  printed  paragraphs  like 
the  following :  "  The  guild  of  textile-makers 
have  declared  for  Young  West ;  "  or,  The  iron- 
workers are  combining  with  the  Electricians 
against  "  Young  West  "  to  offset  the  machina- 
tions of  the  grangers  and  cattle-raisers,  who  are 
pledged  to  elect  "  Young  West."  And  mind,  I 
was  then  in  the  fifty-seventh  year  of  my  life.  I 
would  have  cheerfully  foregone  the  honor  for 
which  I  had  been  striving  since  I  entered  the 
industrial  army  as  a  private,  if  I  could  only  have 
obliterated  by  my  resignation  the  mortifying 
nickname  '•  Y'oung  West ;  "  —  but  no,  "  Young 
'West "  I  have  ever  been,  and  "  Young  West,"  I 
am  fated  to  die. 

Looking  upon  this  matter  from  the  other  side, 


TOUNG  WEST. 


I  must  concede  that  the  people,  who  are  calling 
me  "  Young  West,"  have  some  valid  excuses  for 
applying  that  sobriquet.  Although  I  letired 
from  public  work  many  years  ago,  my  physical 
constitution  is  yet  sufficiently  strong  to  stand 
the  wear  and  tear,  the  worries  and  tribulations 
of  any  public  office.  Neither  has  my  mind  lost 
a  particle  of  its  former  youthful  freshness  and 
vigor.  My  ideas  are  those  of  a  young  man. 
Old  age  has  not  made  me  a  conservative,  as  it 
usually  does  of  men. 

In   so    far    my   friends   are   right,  I   am    still 
''Young  West." 

My  life  has  been  crowded  with  memorable 
events  ;  good  fortune  permitted  me  to  contrib- 
ute somewhat  to  the  welfare  and  progress  of 
the  nation,  whom  I  served  for  a  period  of  more 
than  forty  years.  I  ran  through  the  whole  /i, 
scale  of  social  and  public  ambition,  from  the  ' 
lowest  to  the  highest  note.  From  one  public 
office,  I  was  promoted  to  the  next  higher  one. 
Lifted  and  carried  by  the  good  will  which  my 
fellow  workers  bore  me,  I  continued  to  rise 
until  they  intrusted  me  with  the  highest  office 
in  their  gift, —  the  presidency.  Even  after  I 
returned  to  private  life,  as  prescribed  by  law, 
my  advice  and  counsel  was  frequently  solicited 
by  my  successors. 


TOUNO  WEST. 


No  wonder,  therefore,  ray  friends  importune 
me  now,  as  my  days  are  fast  ebbing  away,  to 
commit  to  writing  the  reminiscences  of  so  event- 
ful and  so  successful  a  career  as  has  been  mine. 

Not  that  future  historians  would  lack  the 
material  out  of  which  to  compose  a  thrilling 
biography  of  ex-president  Julian  West, —  (or 
"  Young  West "  as  they  most  likely  will  call 
me) — for  my  name  is  attached  to  a  multitude 
of  documents  of  greater  or  less  importance  ;  but 
my  friends  claim,  that  T  am  better  qualified  to 
explain  the  causes  of  events  than  my  biog- 
raphers ever  will  be.  Their  statements,  they 
say,  will  be  the  product  of  research  or  hearsay, 
while  mine  will  have  the  color  and  conclusive- 
ness of  personal  observation.  Who,  moreover, 
could  understand  better  than  myself,  how  to  sift 
the  vast  material,  so  as  to  select  from  it  the 
most  important  and  significant  events,  events 
that  indeed  determined  the  welfare  of  millions 
of  people  ? 

That  I  yielded  to  those  flattering  exhorta- 
tions, —  or  let  me  rather  speak  the  truth  —  that 
I  yiekhnl  to  the  promptings  of  ray  own  vanity, 
the  book,  in  the  hands  of  the  reader,  suffi- 
ciently evidences.  Why  should  I,  after  all,  dis- 
Scrable  and  deny,  that  to  write  this  volume  gave 
me  intense  pleasure  ?     Living  over  the  incidents 


YOVYO  WEST. 


which  I  deemed  worthy  of  preservation,  I  was 
thrilled  a  second  time  by  the  passions  and  im- 
pulses which  then  stirred  me  into  action.  Life 
is,  indeed,  twice  enjoyed  by  man  :  once  when 
it  stretches  out  before  him  in  the  form  of  hopes 
and  expectations  ;  the  second  time  when  he  is 
reviewing  it  and  beholds  the  accomplished  facts, 
the  leal  history  of  his  being,  ineffaceably  pre- 
served under  the  transparent  crystal  cover  of 
the  past. 

It  has  been  often  said,  and  well  said,  that  a 
man's  life  docs  not  begin  with  the  hour  of  his 
birth,  not  even  with  the  moment  of  concep- 
tion, that  begins  the  life  of  the  embryo,  but 
that  every  existence  is  linked  to  previous  ones 
by  a  long  line  of  ancestors.  Most  of  our  good 
and  evil  traits,  health  as  well  as  disease,  we  in- 
herit from  persons  who  have  lived  long  before 
us ;  to  ignoie  the  influence,  which  even  our  re- 
motest ancestors  have  upon  our  being,  would  be 
like  ignoring  the  rivulets  and  tributaries  that 
form  a  river. 

Biographers,  therefore,  alway3  mention  one 
preceding  generation  at  least,  that  is,  the  pa- 
rentage of  the  hero  of  their  tale ;  thus  I,  too, 
must  make  mention,  before  speaking  of  myself, 
of  the  nearest  links  that  connect  me  with  the 
past,   of   my   father   and    mother.     In    the    few 


YOUNG  WEST. 


lines  which  I  feel  bound  to  devote  to  them,  the 
reader  will  find  an  additional  explanation,  how 
it  happened  that  the  nickname  "Young  West" 
was  fastened  upon  me. 

In  the  year  2001,  the  inhabitants  of  Atlantis 
(a  city  which  occurs  in  the  annals  of  media3val 
history  under  the  name  of  Boston),  were  thrown 
into  a  state  or  unusual  excitement,  which  soon 
spread  all  over  the  inhabited  world,  when  tele- 
graphic and  telephonic  communication  distrib- 
uted the  news. 

Workingmen,  while  excavating  a  lot  for 
building  purposes,  had  struck  upon  a  piece  of 
antique  architecture,  upon  a  subterranean  room, 
so  admirably  constructed  that  it  had  withstood 
the  ravages  of  time  for  more  than  a  century. 
The  appointments  of  this  room  were  rather 
strange.  Air  seemed  to  have  been  led  into  it  by 
way  of  tubes,  and  light  by  way  of  electrical  con- 
trivances, which  at  once  indicated  the  time 
when  the  chamber  was  built,  as  being  that  of 
the  last  decades  of  the  19th  century.  The  fur- 
niture, which  was  found  in  the  apartment, 
strengthened  this  conclusion ;  it  coincided  with 
the  fashion  plates  of  that  period. 

The  discovery  of  this  ancient  structure  would 
have  received  only  a  short  mention  in  the 
"National  News  Register"   had  it  not  become 


TOUNO  WEST. 


intensified  by  a  ranch  more  startling  incident. 
The  room  contained  also  the  body  of  a  man  ;  not 
the  skeleton  of  a  man,  nor  his  embalmed 
corpse, —  the  body  that  was  found  was  that  of  a 
man,  fast  asleep. 

All  evidences  indicated  that  this  person  had 
gone  to  sleep  more  than  a  centuiy  ago.  The 
usual  methods  to  awake  a  sleeper,  failing,  the 
most  eminent  physicians  were  convened  and  the 
extraordinary  case  was  placed  in  their  hands. 
One  of  them.  Dr.  Leete,  had  retired  from  prac- 
tice many  years  ago.  He  had  been  paying  of 
late,  during  his  leisure,  considerable  attention 
to  the  medical  inventions  and  discoveries  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  making  a  thorough  study  of 
Mesmerism  or  Hypnotism,  as  it  was  then  called. 
He  had  read  of  a  method  by  which  such  a  sleep 
could  be  terminated ;  he  began  to  experiment 
and  his  endeavors  were  crowned  with  success; 
the  sleeper  opened  his  eyes. 

The  patient  was  now  given  entirely  into  his 
care.  He  removed  him  to  his  own  apartment 
and  by  degrees  he  brought  him  to  conscious- 
ness. He  supplied  carefully  the  organism  of  his 
patient  with  the  most  needed  food  and  after  a 
few  days  of  cautious  treatment,  he  dared  open 
a  conversation  with  his  guest,  disclosing  to  him 
little  by  little  where  he  was. 


8  TOUNO  WEST. 

The  doctor's  diagnosis  of  the  case  had  been 
correct.  Julian  West,  a  wealthy  resident  of 
Boston,  had  been  suffering  for  years  from  insom- 
nia. Sleep  fled  from  him  even  in  his  quiet 
underground  apartment,  which  he  had  caused 
to  be  specially  constructed  for  his  use  as  a  bed- 
chamber. When  slumber  would  not  come  to 
him  for  many  days  and  nights,  he  used  to  send 
for  his  physician  who  would  apply  the  hypnotic 
process  to  put  him  to  sleep.  One  of  his  body 
attendants,  who  had  been  instructed  how  to  re- 
verse the  process,  would  wake  him  the  next 
morning. 

Mr.  West  could  not  tell  or  even  imagine, 
why  he  had  not  been  roused  as  usual  the  next 
morning,  nor  what  had  become  of  the  house  of 
which  the  discovered  apartment  was  merely  the 
subcellar.  The  only  possible  explanation,  that 
he  could  think  of,  was,  that  perhaps  the  house 
had  caught  fire  during  the  night  and  that  his 
friends  supposed  him  to  have  perished  in  the 
flames.  Why  the  place  was  never  utilized 
afterwards  as  a  site  for  new  buildings  or  why 
excavations  were  never  made  before  on  the 
same  place,  he  was  as  unable  to  surmise  as  were 
the  people  who  had  found  him. 

The  young  man, —  he  appeared  not  older 
than    thirty-five    years, —  became    pitiably    dis- 


YOUNG  WEST. 


tracted,  and  for  some  time  he  was  in  danger  of 
losing  liis  reason.  Tlianks  to  the  good  care 
that  Dr.  Leete  took  of  him,  his  mental  equilib- 
rium was  quickly  restored.  As  soon  as  he 
began  to  rally,  he  plied  his  host  with  questions 
of  all  kinds. 

Since  the  time  that  he  had  gone  to  sleep,  all 
social  conditions  had  changed  in  such  a  marvel- 
lous manner  that  he  failed  to  understand  them. 
His  age  had  been  one  of  intense  competitive 
strife,  now  he  beheld  society  forming  a  brother- 
hood indeed,  in  which  all  worked  for  one  and 
one  for  all.  He  could  not  understand  how 
money  should  have  ceased  to  be  the  stimulus 
for  all  individual  efforts;  he  wondered  that  peo- 
ple were  found  willing  to  work  without  being 
paid  for  tlieir  labor ;  he  could  not  see  how  it 
was  possible  that  all  could  live  in  affluence,  nor 
could  he  grasp  the  idea  of  economic  equality. 
After  a  short  time,  however,  he  became  not 
alone  reconciled  to  our  social  arrangements,  but 
he  began  to  acknowledge  their  superiority  over 
the  conditions  that  prevailed  in  his  time.  He 
now  wondered  that  his  contemporaries  could 
have  been  so  blind  as  not  to  see  the  true  remedy 
that  would  have  cured  all  the  evils  of  which 
they  complained  so  much.  He  remembered 
now  that  at  his  time  already  some  such  ideas  of 


10  YOUNG  WEST. 


economic  equality  had  been  troubling  the  minds 
of  a  few  individuals  and  how  the  socialists, — 
so  these  people  had  been  called, —  were  scorned 
and  ridiculed  as  visionaries,  yea,  even  persecuted 
as  enemies  of  society. 

After  his  full  recovery,  he  was  given  the  posi- 
tion of  professor  of  mediseval  history  in  one  of 
our  colleges.  His  specialty  was  to  lecture  on 
the  social  conditions  of  the  19th  century. 
Speaking  from  his  own  experiences,  his  dis- 
courses were  very  interesting  and  attracted  wide- 
spread attention. 

The  first  woman  whom  his  eyes  met  after 
waking  up  from  his  protracted  slumber,  was  the 
daughter  of  his  host.  She  was  by  occupation  a 
hospital  nurse  and  had  been  detailed  to  take 
special  care  of  him  under  her  father's  directions. 
It  was,  therefore,  not  astonishing  at  all  that  he 
should  have  learned  to  love  her,  but  that  Miss 
Leete  should  have  reciprocated  the  feelings  of  a 
person,  who  in  fact  was  more  than  a  hundred 
years  older  than  she  was,  and  who, —  as  was 
found  out  later  on, —  had  been  affianced  to  her 
own  great  grandmother,  was  a  surprise  to  all, 
especially  as  she  had  not  lacked  suitors  and  had 
been  courted  by  young  men  of  high  promise. 
So  far,  she  had  refused  all  offers  of  marriage, 
reserving  her  hand, —  so  she  said, —  for  one  who 


YOUNG  WEST.  11 

would  distinguish  himself  by  some  great  public 
deed.  However,  the  fancies  of  women  have 
always  been  and  will  forever  be  unfathomable ; 
she  returned  Julian  West's  affection,  and  after 
a  time  they  were  registered  as  a  married  cou- 
ple. 

Their  marital  bliss  was  destined  to  be  only  of 
short  duration.  Julian  had  been  restored  to 
life  and  apparent  health ;  still  outraged  nature 
took  her  revenge  in  due  time.  His  tissues 
failed  to  procreate  cells  in  sufficient  numbers 
and  of  sufficient  quality.  He  visibly  fell  off; 
he  grew  weaker  and  weaker,  and  finally  he  died, 
after  a  short  illness,  of  exhausted  vitality, —  as 
the  physicians  termed  it, —  in  the  second  year 
of  his  married  life. 

At  the  time  of  his  death,  his  widow  was 
expecting  to  become  a  mother,  and  when,  two 
months  later,  she  gave  birth  to  a  weak,  sickly- 
looking  boy,  the  medical  authorities  debated 
upon  the  possibility  of  such  a  child,  ever  devel- 
oping into  manhood. 

Some  physicians  prophesied  that,  lacking  the 
proper  stamina,  the  first  attack  of  measles, 
would  remove  "  Young  West,"  other  doctors 
gave  him  a  longer  lease  of  life  but  predicted 
that  phthisis  would  carry  him  off;  but  all  agreed 
that  "  Young  West "  would  never  reach  man's 


12  YOUJ^G  WJ!:ST. 


estate ;    that,  should   he   live,  he   would    never 
become  a  useful  member  of  society. 

Did  their  predictions  come  true?  No.  They 
were  all  disappointed.  "  Young  West "  grew 
up  healthy  in  body  and  mind  and  lived  to  serve 
his  country  well.  He  had  entered  life — to 
speak  in  the  language  of  the  19th  century  — 
well  advertised,  and  it  was  perhaps  due  to  that 
very  notoriety  that  he  succeeded  where  others 
failed. 


CHAPTER  II. 

When  the  human  soul  enters  life,  the  whole 
world  forces  itself,  so  to  say,  throws  itself  upon 
it  at  once,  craving  recognition.  It  would  crush 
the  new  citizen  by  its  pressure  had  not  a  wise 
Providence  so  ordained  it  that  it  can  reach'him 
only  through  one  channel  at  a  time,  until  he 
has  accustomed  himself  to  his  environments 
and  has  become  capable  of  bearing  the  world's 
full  weight. 

The  tablets  of  memory,  —  white  and  clean  at 
birth,  —  become  soon  covered  with  the  marks 
inscribed  upon  them  by  passing  events  and 
although  nobody  can  tell  how  many  such  im- 
pressions the  memory  received  before  it  learns 


YOUNG  WEST.  13 


to  bring  them  into  order  and  to  recall  them  at 
will,  it  is  within  the  bounds  of  reason  to  assume 
that  the  infant  receives  through  the  senses,  and 
stores  away  for  future  use,  thousands  of  im- 
pressions every  day. 

The  real  awakening  of  the  mind,  however, 
occurs  at  a  much  later  period,  which  varies  as 
individual  cases  vary.  Some  will  awake  to 
consciousness  as  early  as  the  second  year,  others 
not  before  the  end  of  the  fourth.  In  normal 
existences,  the  day  or  event  can  be  fixed,  when, 
for  the  first  time,  we  remember  ourselves  either 
observing  or  acting.  That  day  opens,  in  fact, 
the  history  of  a  man's  life. 

I  awoke  to  consciousness  not  before  I  was 
three  years  of  age,  but  I  remember  that  moment 
distinctly.  I  found  myself  in  the  company  of 
quite  a  number  of  children  like  myself.  We 
had  been  playing  upon  the  green  turf  in  a 
garden,  and  a  bell  was  calling  us  to  lunch. — 
I  hear  the  tolling  of  that  bell  yet.  —  I  clearly 
remember  that  not  only  did  I  understand  the 
meaning  of  that  bell,  but  I  also  knew  that, 
when  hearing  it,  I  was  to  take  a  certain  place 
in  a  file  to  be  formed  by  us  children.  Whether 
I  had  been  tiained  before  to  act  in  that  man 
ner, — most  probably  I  had,  —  I  cannot  remem- 
ber.    I  only  know  that  I  took  hold  of  the  hand 


14  YOUNG  WEST. 


i-j 


of  another  child,  we  placed  ourselves  behind 
several  others  and  kept  step  to  the  music  which 
was  rendered  by  an  orchestrion.  I  then  re- 
member that  I  tripped  over  some  impediment 
and  fell,  dragging  my  companion  with  me. 
Both  of  us  began  to  ciy,  upon  which  a  pretty 
woman  of  about  twenty-five  years  came  to  us, 
lifted  us  up,  put  us  again  on  our  feet,  straight- 
ened our  frocks  and  tiers,  kissed  us  tenderly  and 
said  in  a  sweet,  sympathetic  tone  :  "  Don't  cry, 
dears,  don't  mind  a  tumble  or  a  fall ;  say  '  hey 
ho'  and  let  us  run  for  lunch."  With  tears  yet 
trickling  from  our  eyes,  we  exclaimed:  "Hey 
ho,"  and  led  by  her  we  trundled  into  a  spacious 
hall,  where  we  took  seats  upon  little  stools  at  a 
long,  low  table.  The  scene  appears  before  me 
as  if  it  had  occurred  but  yesterday.  I  recollect 
how  we  were  regaled  with  milk,  bread,  and 
sweet  fruit.  I  also  remember  the  names  of  my 
playmates  and  the  names  of  most  of  the  women 
who  attended  to  us.  Miss  Bella,  who  had 
special  charge  of  me  and  a  few  others,  and  at 
whose  hand  I  had  entered  the  dining-hall,  tied 
a  napkin  around  me  and  supplied  me  with  the 
food  I  seemed  to  need.  How  she  knew,  I  could 
not  tell  at  that  time,  but  she  knew  exactly  how 
much  it  was  well  for  each  of  us  to  eat.  To  the 
one  she  would  give  a  larger  portion  than  to  the 


YOUNG  WEST. 


other,  and  not  rarely  would  she  offer  a  diet  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  the  rest,  to  one  or  the  other 
of  the  children. 

After  lunch,  we  went  again  into  the  garden. 
Some  of  us  would  play,  others  would  lie  down 
in  hammocks  and  sleep.  I  remember  that  I 
liked  all  the  nurses  whom  I  met  daily,  but  that 
I  was  most  attracted  by  Miss  Bella. 

Every  morning  an  elderly  man  would  appear 
amongst  us  before  whom  we  passed  in  file.  Mr. 
Rogers  —  so  we  called  him  —  was  always  re- 
ceived by  us  with  pleasure.  He  would  stroke 
our  hair  or  kiss  us.  Sometimes  he  would  play 
with  us,  make  us  catch  him,  roll  with  us  on  the 
ground  and  teach  us  games.  He  was  usually 
accompanied  by  another  man,  whom  we  did  not 
like  as  well,  because  he  woukl  make  us  open 
our  mouths  to  put  a  little  ivory  stick  right  into 
our  throats,  a  proceeding  which  we  did  not 
fancy  very  much.  He  would  also  take  hold  of 
the  wrist  of  some  child  and  do  many  more 
things  which  we  children  did  not  comprehend. 
We  used  to  call  him  Uncle  Doctor. 

One  of  his  actions  remained  a  wonder  to  me 
until  I  learned  its  meaning.  I  will,  therefore, 
give  a  true  account  of  it,  as  it  appeared  to  me 
at  that  time. 

Some  of  the  children  seemed  to  be  unwilling 


16  YOUNG  WEST. 


to  do  what  the  nurses  bade  them  do.  They 
would  strike  and  scratch  other  children,  take 
away  their  toys  or  destroy  without  reason  the 
flowers  in  the  garden,  or  they  would  torment 
the  rabbits,  birds,  or  other  animals  which  were 
kept  therein.  No  matter  how  often  the  nurses 
would  tell  them  that  it  was  wrong  to  commit 
such  deeds,  these  refractory  children  would  not 
listen,  but  repeated  the  offence  as  often  as  they 
found  a  chance.  Others  were  in  the  habit  of 
not  telling  the  truth.  It  seemed  as  if  a  certain 
impulse,  over  which  they  had  no  control,  would 
diive  them  to  do  what  was  forbidden,  or  that 
it  would  give  them  a  secret  pleasure  to  commit 
deeds  which  would  cause  pain  to  others.  When- 
ever one  of  us  was  hurt  through  the  malice 
of  such  a  young  ruffian,  our  nurses  would  tell 
us  not  to  retaliate  and  still  to  love  him,  because, 
they  said,  he  was  sick  and  would  soon  recover 
aud  then  not  do  it  again. 

There  was  one  dark  complexioned  little  fel- 
low, a  year  older  than  myself,  whom  we  called 
"  Bobby,"  who  seemed  to  derive  special  pleasure 
from  annoying  me.  No  sooner  had  Miss  Bella 
turned  her  back  to  us  than  he  would  jump  at 
mo,  scratch  or  pinch  me  or  pull  my  haii-.  One 
day,  he  even  thiew  a  stone  at  me  ;  it  struck  me 
on  the   head   and    I    beu'an    to    scream.     Other 


YOU^^G  JVEST.  17 

children  had  seen  him  send  the  missile,  but 
he  still  stoutly  denied  the  deed. 

"  Don't  mind  it,  Julian,  dear,"  said  Miss 
I'ella,  uhi](;  dressing  the  wound,  "  Bob  is  a  very 
sick  boy,  only  sick  children  will  throw  stones  at 
others." 

The  next  morning,  when  Mr.  Rogers,  accom- 
panied by  "  Uncle  Doctor  "  entered  our  ward,  T 
ol)served  Miss  Bella  earnestly  talking  to  them. 
They  cast  glances  at  me  and  also  at  Bob. 
When  his  turn  came  to  be  examined,  the  doctor 
took  him  kindly  in  his  lap,  talked  cheerfully 
and  pleasantly  to  him,  as  if  notliing  had  hap- 
pened and  even  made  him  ride  upon  his  knee. 
Bob  enjoyed  the  fun  and  clapped  his  hands 
in  high  glee.  All  at  once  the  doctor  made  him 
recline  on  his  arm,  looked  fixedly  at  him  and 
said  :  "  Poor  Bobby  is  so  sleepy,  his  little  eyes 
feel  so  tired,  his  little  legs  are  so  weary ; 
Bobby  is  now  closing  his  eyes,  now  he  is  going 
to  sleep  I  " 

The  last  word  he  intuned  with  a  commanding 
inllection. 

To  my  great  surprise.  Bob  had  indeed  closed 
his  eyes  and  was  fast  asleep. 

The  Doctor  then  began  to  talk  to  him  softly  : 
"  Bobby  will  not  wake  until  I  count  three ; 
Bobby  does  not  want  to  pinch  and  scratch  other 


18  YOUNG   WEST. 


children,  liobby  will  never  throw  stones  again, 
do  you  hear  me,  Bobby?"  Though  his  eyes 
were  closed,  Bobby  said  :  "  Yes  sir." 

The  doctor  continued :  "Bobby  will  never 
again  tell  a  lie,  Bobby  will  go  to  Young  West, 
kiss  him  and  beg  his  pardon.     One,  two,  three." 

Bob  opened  his  eyes.  The  doctor  kissed  him 
and  put  him  on  the  ground. 

I  expected  that  Bob  would  come  to  me  and  do 
as  he  was  ordered,  but  he  did  not.  All  that 
day,  he  was  quiet  and  abstained  from  playing 
his  usual  tricks  on  me.  The  following  day,  the 
doctor  held  a  similar  conversation  with  him  and 
again  the  next  day.  On  the  fourth  day,  to 
my  surprise.  Bob  came  to  me  and  begged  my 
pardon.  For  a  few  more  days,  the  doctor 
seemed  to  be  extremely  friendly  towards  Bob 
without,  however,  patting  him  to  sleep.  After 
that,  he  took  no  more  special  notice  of  him  than 
he  did  of  the  others. 

Bob  and  I  became  fast  friends  after  that. 
Perhaps  because  my  attention  had  been  drawn 
through  Bob's  case,  I  happened  to  see  the 
doctor  treat  other  children  precisely  in  the 
same  manner.  When  1  questioned  Miss  Bella, 
whether  Bob  was  yet  sick,  she  answered  :  "  No, 
he  is  just  as  well  as  the  rest  of  you;  —  the 
doctor  lias  cured  him." 


YOUNG  WEST.  l'.' 

The  nursery  —  for  such  was  the  phice  in 
which  I  came  to  consciousness  —  was  attached 
to  a  block  of  residences  quite  in  the  heart  of  the 
city.  It  formed  the  southern  wing  of  the  square 
and  was  built  like  the  houses,  entirely  of  alu- 
minum and  glass.  In  the  rear,  the  garden 
extended  to  which  I  have  referred  above,  to  be 
used  as  a  playground.  It  was  walled  in  by 
panels  of  glass  and  covered  by  a  glass  roof 
that  could  be  opened  and  shut  at  short  notice, 
so  that  we  could  stay  in  the  garden  even  when 
the  weather  was  not  pleasant.  In  front  of 
the  nursery,  was  a  kind  of  park,  much  larger 
than  our  garden  in  whicli  the  grown-up  resi 
dents  of  the  block  and  their  friends,  would  walk. 
We  could  see  them  and  they  could  see  us,  but 
uidess  they  entered  the  nursery  by  a  side  en- 
trance, communication  was  impossible.  At  all 
times  of  the  day,  persons  could  be  seen  in 
the  park,  who,  in  their  turn  would  watch  us 
at  play  or  at  our  meals,  through  the  windows. 
They  would  smile  at  us,  and  we  would  tlirow 
kisses  to  them. 

The  upper  story  of  the  building,  to  which  we 
ascended  by  a  broad  staircase,  was  our  doimi- 
tory.  Each  of  us  found  there  his  little  bed  and 
his  dressing  case.  In  the  cellar,  to  which  light 
was  carried    through    glass   plates    from  above 


20  YOUNG  WEST. 


was  the  lavatory,  furnished  with  wash  bowls 
and  bath-tubs.  Its  most  remarkable  feature 
was  a  large  tank  that  could  be  filled  within  a 
short  time  with  lukewarm  water.  Dressed  in 
our  bathing  suits,  all  of  us  —  we  numbered 
about  a  hundred  —  would  plunge  into  it  every 
morning  with  our  nurses  and  such  fun  it  was  ! 
The  smaller  ones  would  receive  merely  a  good 
washing  but  the  bigger  ones  were  shown  how  to 
swim.  I  learned  how  to  swim  almost  by  my- 
self and  became  quite  an  expert. 

The  routine  of  the  nursery  was  about  the 
same  as  it  is  in  every  nursery  to-day.  At  seven 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  a  bell  warned  us  to  rise. 
We  slipped  on  our  bathing  robes  and  took  our 
bath.  After  the  nurses  had  dressed  us,  we  par- 
took of  a  light  breakfast,  consisting  of  milk, 
cake  and  fruit,  as  the  season  of  the  year  per- 
mitted. After  breakfast,  with  the  exception  of 
cold  days,  we  were  sent  into  the  garden  where 
the  nurses  employed  our  time  with  all  kinds  of 
instructive  games.  We  would  mould  figures  of 
clay  or  play  in  the  sand  or  sow  seeds  in  garden 
beds  and  watch  them  grow,  or  braid  strips  of 
paper  into  handsome  patterns,  or  string  beads, 
etc.  Our  little  fingers  were  made  nimble  by  all 
kinds  of  work.  Before  we  got  tired  of  one 
occupation,  the  head  nurse  would  propose  somd 


YOUNG  WEST.  21 


\     1 


other.  She  would  teach  us  songs,  tell  us  stones 
01-  show  us  pretty  pictures.  Thus  the  time 
passed  unnoticed  by  us.  Lunch  time  was  wel- 
come and  after  eating  most  of  us  would  take  a 
short  nap.  Refreshed  1)}^  the  sleep,  we  would 
spend  the  afternoon  in  games  that  tended  to 
develop  our  muscles,  or  we  would  look  into  the 
park,  watch  the  fountains  play  and  listen  to  the 
concerts  which  were  given  there  every  after- 
Jioon.  We  learned  to  love  music  :  we  would 
/  file  in  and  out  of  the  halls  to  the  strains  of 
I  music,  which  an  orchestrion  supplied,  and  we 
I  would  sing  while  marching  ;  even  during  our 
meals,  soft  music  was  frequently  rendered.  At 
four  o'clock  we  had  dinner,  which  consisted  of 
various  courses  of  wholesome  vegetable  diet. 
Meats  were  not  given  to  us  ;  not  before  a  child 
had  reached  his  fourteenth  year,  was  he  allowed 
to  taste  either  meat  or  fish.  Dinner  finished, 
we  were  apparently  left  to  our  own  devices. 
We  played  what  we  pleased  and  with  whom  we 
pleased.  Even  if  we  were  ever  so  noisy  in  the 
garden  or  in  the  play-rooms,  we  were  not  repri- 
manded. Mr.  Rogers,  who  would  invariably 
return  at  that  liour  and  remain  with  us  during 
the  rest  of  the  evening,  would  then  watch  our 
every  action.  As  I  found  out  afterwards,  l»is 
eye    discerned  during    these    hours  the    talents 


YOUJSU  we:st. 


m 


iiiul  vices  that  were  slumbering  in  every  cliild  ; 
the  talents  he  gave  instructions  for  properly 
developing ;  the  vicious  inclinations,  he  ordered 
to  be  eradicated. 

During  these  hours,  we  received  also  visitors. 
Men  and  women  —  the  latter  in  larger  num- 
bers,—  would  come  and  stay  and  talk  with  us 
for  a  short  time.  Some  would  pick  out  a 
particular  child  and  kiss  and  hug  it.  Why?  I 
could  not  tell.  Some  came  expressly  to  see  me 
and  frequently  1  heard  people  ask  the  attendant 
to  show  them  "  Young  West."  One  lady, 
especially,  paid  me  a  visit  once  every  week. 
As  a  rule,  she  came  alone,  only  at  times  either  a 
young  man  or  an  aged  gentleman  accompanied 
her.  She  Avould  take  me  on  her  lap,  inquire 
after  my  health,  and  she  never  left  me  without 
kissing  me  good  bye.  I  liked  her,  but  not  any 
better  than  I  did  other  ladies  and  not  as  much 
as  I  liked  the  nurses  and  in  particular.  Miss  Bella. 

Miss  Bella  once  told  me  that  the  lady  was 
my  mother,  the  young  man,  her  husband,  and 
the  old  gentleman,  who  wore  a  blue  ribbon  in 
his  buttonhole,  her  father,  and  consequently  my 
grandfather.  What  that  meant,  1  could  not 
comprehend  at  that  time,  and  when  I  asked  her 
to  explain,  she  said  evasively  :  "  Some  day,  you 
will  know." 


YOUNG  WEST.  23 


Also  boys  and  girls,  much  older  than  we 
were,  would  occasionally  call.  IJotli  Miss  Bella 
and  Mr.  Rogers  knew  a  great  many  of  them. 
Tlie}^  liad  been  brought  up  in  the  same  nursery, 
but  now,  the}-^  were  at  school.  They  wore  uni- 
forms. 1  remember  a  boy  coming  expressly  to 
show  ]\lr.  Ixogers  the  silver  cord  which  he  wore 
for  the  first  time  around  the  collar  of  his  uni- 
form,    lie  was  so  proud  of  it. 

''What  was  school?  Where  was  it?  Was 
it  a  pretty  place  ?  " 

Every  year  towards  spring,  a  few  of  the  older 
boys  and  girls  left  the  nursery  ;  tiiey  went  to 
school.  Their  nurses  kissed  them  good  bye  and 
cried  when  Mr.  Rogers  led  them  away. 

Why  did  they  shed  tears  ? 

After  a  few  weeks,  some  of  these  children 
would  return  during  visiting  hours,  dressed  in 
their  handsome  uniforms.  We  were  glad  to  see 
them,  but  they  were  rather  haughty  towards  us. 
They  Avould.  not  join  our  })lays  and  seemed  al- 
ways afiaid  that  we  might  soil  their  jackets  with 
our  fingers.  They  said  the  school  was  very  pretty 
and  that  they  loved  it  much  better  than  the 
nursery. 

"  Would  the  time  ever  come  when  I  would  be 
sent  to  school?"  I  asked  Miss  Hella.  ''Of 
course,  you  will,"  said  she,  "but  don't   think   of 


24  YOUNG  WEST. 


tliat  now,  my  dear."  Then  she  took  me  on  her 
lap  and  told  me  the  pretty  story  of  a  little  fir 
tree  who  cared  not  for  the  pretty  clouds  that 
passed  over  him,  nor  for  the  songs  of  the  little 
birds  that  had  built  their  nests  near  by  in  the 
branches  of  the  bigger  trees,  nor  for  the  gam- 
bols of  the  rabbits  that  played  near  him  in  the 
grass,  because  he  yearned  so  much  to  go  where 
the  other  big  trees  went,  which  the  wood-cut- 
ters cut  down  every  year  and  carried  away  on 
heavy  wagons.  He  would  ask  the  clouds,  but 
they  could  not  tell  him  what  becauie  of  them. 
They  thought  they  had  seen  some  of  them  far, 
far  away,  floating  upon  the  water,  decorated 
with  many  colored  ribbons.  Would  he  float 
some  day  upon  the  water  ?  He  would  ask  the 
birds  and  one  of  them  told  him  that  they  had 
once  seen  a  little  tree,  like  him  in  size,  planted 
in  a  warm  room,  liolding  candles  and  nuts  of 
gold  on  its  branches.  Would  he  ever  enjoy 
such  a  glory?  Thus  Miss  Bella  would  finish 
Anderson's  pretty  story,  advising  me  to  be 
happy  now  and  not  to  worry  about  to-morrow 
or  about  "  school." 

About  seven  o'clock,  a  light  supper  was 
served,  after  which  we  were  put  to  bed. 

In  this  pleasant  manner,  our  days  passed  by. 
The  only  discomfort  that  could  befall    us    was 


YOUNG  WEST. 


sickness.  We  all  dreaded  to  be  sick  ;  not  that 
we  were  not  as  well  cared  for  as  we  were  in  the 
nursery,  but  because  we  had  to  go  to  the  liospi- 
tal,  where  we  missed  our  usual  companions.  I 
remember  that  once,  having  fallen  sick,  I  was 
sent  to  the  hospital.  An  excellent  nurse,  the 
very  personification  of  kindness  and  patience, 
took  charge  of  me,  but  I  felt  lonesome  because 
neitl.er  my  playmates  nor  Miss  Bella  were  al- 
lowed to  come  to  see  me,  not  even  Mr  Rogers. 
The  only  face  known  to  me  was  that  of  "  Uncle 
Doctor."  Why  was  he  allowed  to  visit  places 
which  the  rest  were  not  allowed  to  enter? 

One  lovely  day  in  spring,  when  I  was  about 
six  years  old,  INIr.  Rogers  told  Miss  Bella  to  pre- 
pare me  and  a  number  of  other  children  for 
"school."  While  she  was  dressing  me  in  my 
best  cloth,  she  whispered  into  my  ear  :  "To-day 
you  will  be  sent  to  school  ;  my  darling  lias 
grown  to  be  a  big  boy,  you  will  soon  forget  Miss 
Bella.  I  assured  her  I  would  never  forget  lier, 
but  all  the  time  I  was  burning  with  impatience 
to  enter,  what  I  imagined  a  still  happier  place, 
*•  school."  How  J  yearned  to  wear  a  imiform 
with  shining  buttons  !  I  would  soon  return, 
if  for  no  other  reason,  than  to  show  my  new 
clothes. 

Mr.  Rogers  led  us  out  of  tlic  house.      For  the 


26  lUUytr   WEIST. 


liitt  time  iu  my  life,  1  walked  in  the  streets.  I 
was  surprised  that  there  were  so  many  people 
and  liousfcs.     How  large  the  world  was  ! 

We  walked  for  quite  a  while,  strange  objects 
meeting  our  inquisitive  eyes  at  every  turn, 
when  we  reached  a  peculiarly  constructed  house. 
Mr.  Rogers  showed  a  paper  to  a  man  who  was 
sitting  behind  an  open  window.  "  Another 
lot?"  said  he,  with  an  interrogative  inflection? 
"  Strapping  little  fellows  !  theirs  is  the  future ! 

"  This  is  "  Young  West,"  remarked  Mr. 
Rogers.  ''In  spite  of  the  prediction  of  the 
doctors,  1  have  developed  him  and  I  feel  sure 
that  he  will  live  to  be  an  old  man." 

"Young  West!"  exclaimed  the  man,  "you 
don't  say  !     Let  me  have  a  look  at  him." 

Mr.  Rogers  took  me  upon  his  arm,  so  that 
the  man  in  the  window  could  see. 

"  The  very  image  of  his  father,"  said  the 
stranger,  "  what  an  excitement  it  was  when  he 
was  found !  " 

We  descended  a  flight  of  stairs  into  a  cel- 
lar ;  a  bell  was  heard  and  Mr.  Rogers  guided 
his  flock  of  little  ones  into  what  appeared  to  us 
a  little  house.  We  took  seats  on  benches  ;  a 
man  closed  the  door  behind  us.  The  room, 
which  was  lit  by  electric  lamps,  began  now  to  vi- 
brate in  a  strange  manner.     About  ten  minutes 


YOUNG  WEST.  27 

might  have  passed,  wlieii  the  vibration  ceased  ; 
a  mail  opened  the  door,  exchiimed  some  words, 
wli  it'll  I  did  not  understand,  and  Mr.  Rogers 
told  us  to  follow  him.  We  ascended  a  flight  of 
stairs,  passed  through  a  building  similar  to  the 
one  in  which  Mr.  Rogers  had  held  a  conversa- 
tion with  the  man,  who  had  known  my  father, 
and 

I  had  never  seen  the  like  before.  There 
was  a  garden  spreading  before  us  a  thousand 
times  larger  than  the  one  in  which  we  had  been 
brought  up.  There  were  hundreds  of  trees  and 
shrubs  and  flowers  in  full  bloom.  I  had  seen 
pictures  of  horses  and  goats  and  sheep,  here  I 
saw  these  animals  alive,  grazing  in  the  pasture. 
In  the  centre  of  this  ravishing  paradise,  stood  a 
house,  a  palace,  I  should  rather  say.  It  was  the 
"school." 

Mr.  Rogers  announced  our  arrival  by  press- 
ing a  button.  We  heard  the  sound  of  a  bell 
and  the  gate  of  the  palace  flew  open. 

We  entered. 


28  yoi  XG  WEST. 


CHAPTER  III. 

At  the  time  when  our  present  order  of  society 
liad  been  in  its  first  stages  of  conception,  its 
friends  and  advocates  believed,  that  it  would 
tend  to  break  up  tlieir  colossal  cities  and  would 
spread  the  inhabitants  more  evenly  over  the 
land.  Their  predictions  never  came  true.  The 
cities,  instead  of  diminishing  in  size,  grew  to 
still  larger  proportions.  The  methods  of  agri- 
culture, of  manufacture,  of  locomotion,  of  distri- 
bution, had  been  improved  in  an  undreamed 
of  manner,  so  that  people  could  combine  with 
ease  the  pleasures  of  city  life  with  the  various 
occupations  that  required  their  presence  else- 
where. 

Travelling  at  the  rate  of  more  than  one  hun. 
drcd  and  fifty  miles  an  hour,  people  could  culti- 
vate the  land  in  a  radius  of  three  hundred  miles, 
or  do  tlieir  work  in  factories,  scattered  in  such  a 
circle,  and  still  live  in  a  city,  leaving  their  homes 
in  the  moi'ning  and  returning  in  the  afternoon. 

Although  steam  had  long  ago  been  replaced 
by  electricity,  and  the  smoke  that  hovered  ov(>r 
mediicval  cities,  no  longer  vitiated  the  atmos- 
phere, and  although  the  improvements  in  regard 


YOUNG  WEST.  20 


to  the  sanitation  of  cities,  had  made  them 
healthier  abodes  than  they  were  in  former 
centuries,  still  the  concentration  of  millions  of 
people  within  a  comparatively  small  compass 
could  not  but  produce  a  number  of  unavoidable 
disadvantages,  among  which  the  noise  caused  by 
the  locomotion  of  so  many  people  and  the  exha- 
lations rising  fiom  so  many  bodies,  were  the 
least. 

For  more  than  half  a  century,  the  authorities 
had  been  wrestling  with  the  question,  where  the 
public  schools  could  be  placed  best,  so  that  the 
children  might  obtain  the  polish  which  urbanity 
gives,  without  incurring  the  dangers  unavoidably 
connected  with  city  life.  At  last,  a  solution 
was  found.  It  was,  as  is  usually  the  case,  so 
simple  that  they  wondered  why  they  had  not 
thought  of  it  before.  They  removed  the  schools 
out  of  the  crowded  districts  into  the  suburbs : 
not  too  far,  so  as  to  preclude  easy  communication 
with  the  city^  and  yet  sufTiciently  distant,  so  as  to 
give  to  the  children  purer  air,  an  abundance  of 
light,  plenty  of  elbow  room  for  sports  and  that 
quietude  which  is  needed  for  successful  studies. 

The  many  sights  and  the  noises  of  city  life 
had  eaten  away  the  nerve-force  of  the  children 
of  former  generations.  Nervous  prostration  ha<l 
been  a  common  disease  amonir  the  dwellers  of 


30  YOUNG  WEST. 


great  cities  in  the  lOtli  century.  The  schools 
had  weakened  the  eyesight  of  pupils  and  every 
third  person  in  the  street  wore  eye-glasses. 
Rounded,  stooping  shoulders  were  then  the  dis- 
tinjruishing  mark  of  the  scholar.  These  mistakes 
of  the  past  were  to  be  avoided.  People  came  to 
see,  that  next  to  life,  the  child  was  entitled  to 
the  possession  of  a  healthy  body.  A  strong, 
healthy  soul  was  sure  to  develop  therein. 

Every  large  city  is  now  encircled  by  magnifi- 
cent school  buildings  ;  the  most  beauteous  sites 
are  selected  for  them  and  no  labor  or  expense  is 
/  spared  to  make  them  efficient  and  efl'ectivo  to 
K  do  their  woik  Avell  and  to  ri>ar  citizens,  well 
equipped,  both  })hysically  and  mentally,  to  assure 
the  continui'.y  of  a  prosperous  and  happy  society. 

The  school  to  which  our  little  troop  was  as- 
signed, was  one,  which  in  the  language  of  my 
,  father's  century  would  have  been  called  a  "  Pri- 
mary "  school.  It  was  built  to  hold  about  one 
thousand  children  of  both  sexes,  of  ajjes  ranscinrr 
from  six  to  ten  years.  At  my  time,  the  number 
of  inmates  was  about  nine  hundred,  not  counting 
the  teachers  and  the  staff  of  officials. 

The  building,  like  all  our  modern  buildings, 
was  constructed  of  aluminum  and  glass.  Pillars, 
beams,  spars,  partitions,  floois,  doors,  stairs, 
were  all  made  of  aluminum,  the  w^alls  of  plain 


/ 


YOUNG  WEST.  31 

white,  or  stained  glass,  according  to  location. 
The  building  was  covered  by  a  huge  cupola  that 
could  be  opened  and  closed  at  will,  permitting 
excellent  ventilation.  The  whole  structure 
formed  a  large  square. 

The  building  contained  on  its  first  floor  the 
offices  of  the  various  overseers,  several  reception 
rooms  and  a  library.  The  second  and  third  floor 
contained  apartments  for  the  teachers.  The  first 
floor  of  the  right  and  the  left  wing  was  divided 
into  class-rooms,  the  second  floor  contained  din- 
ing halls  and  kitchens,  and  the  third  floor  dormi- 
tories ;  the  boys  occupying  the  northern  and  the 
gills  the  southern  wing.  In  the  building  in  the 
rear  on  an  underground  floor  were  situated  the 
natatoriura,  lavatory  and  the  usual  sanitary 
arrangements;  on  its  first  floor  a  gymnasium 
and  on  its  second  floor,  workshops  of  all  kinds 
for  manual  training.  The  third  floor  formed  a 
large  amphitheatre  to  be  used  for  exhibitions, 
concerts,  theatrical  performances,  etc.  At  some 
distance  from  the  square,  were  located  a  hospital, 
the  stables,  in  which  all  kinds  of"  domestic 
animals  were  kept,  and  a  poultry  yard. 

The  electricity  for  heating,  lighting,  and  cook- 
ing purposes,  as  well  as  for  running  the  various 
machines  of  the  house  was  received  by  way  of 
undeiground    wires    from   the    city.     We  were 


32  YOUNG  WEST. 


also  connected  by  telephone  with  almost  every 
large  place  in  the  state.  Some  of  the  supplies 
were  sent  to  us  from  the  national  stores  through 
pneumatic  tubes,  others  were  raised  in  the 
gardens  which  surrounded  the  school.  The  large 
space  between  the  four  buildings,  covered  by  the 
dome,  was  used  as  a  playground  when  the 
weather  was  not  pleasant. 

Mr.  Peters,  the  director  of  the  school,  re- 
ceived us  in  person.  This  day  was  one  of  the 
most  busy  days  of  his  scholastic  year,  because 
almost  every  hour  brought  another  troop  of  little 
ones  to  his  institution.  He  could  not,  therefore, 
devote  a  great  deal  of  attention  to  each  company. 

Mr.  Rogers  handed  our  records  to  him.  Cast- 
ing a  quick  glance  over  the  list,  Mr.  Peters 
chanced  to  see  my  name. 

"  Which  of  these  children  is  Young  West  ?  " 

Mr.  Rogers  pointed  out  my  little  person  to 
him.  He  looked  at  me  searchingly,  stroked  my 
hair,  but  made  no  further  remarks. 

He  seemed  to  be  a  very  kind  man,  yet  I 
began  to  feel  sorry,  that  I  was  to  part  from 
my  former  guardian  ;  tears  came  in  my  eyes  and 
not  until  Mr.  Rogers  had  promised  that  I  would 
soon  receive  permission  to  visit  the  nursery,  did 
I  become  consoled. 

One    of    the    teachers    took     us    now    to    the 


YOUNG  WEST.  33 


dining-hall  and  offered  us  refreshments.  While 
we  were  yet  seated  at  the  table,  a  number  of 
boys  and  girls,  inmates  of  the  school,  marched 
into  the  room  with  measured  steps.  They  were 
members  of  the  senior  class  and  the  present 
year  was  their  last  in  the  primary  school.  They 
were  distinguished  fiom  the  rest  of  the  pupils 
by  a  silver  cord  fastened  around  the  stiff  collars 
of  their  jackets.  They  placed  themselves  be- 
hind us,  and,  after  we  had  finished  our  meal, 
each  of  them  took  two  of  us  by  the  liand  and 
showed  us  all  over  the  house.  From  that  day, 
for  a  term  of  a  whole  year,  the  little  mentors 
assigned  to  us,  were  held  responsible  for  our 
comfort. 

Of  the  lowest  grade,  i.  e.,  of  the  recruits,  two 
only  were  assigned  to  one  senior.  Of  the  second 
grade,  one  senior  had  charge  of  five,  and  of 
the  third  grade,  over  ten.  This  was  a  wise 
arrangement  because  the  smaller  a  child  is  and 
the  less  used  to  the  rules  and  discipline  of  the 
school,  the  more  attention  does  he  require.  To 
look  after  two  such  little  ones,  was  all  that  could 
be  expected  of  a  child  of  nine  years.  After  one 
or  two  years'  experience,  when  we  knew  what 
was  wanted  of  us,  a  member  of  the  senior  class 
could  overlook,  with  ease,  five,  or  even  ten. 

Children,    to    be    sure,    become   more   easily 


34  YOUNG  WEST. 

attached  to  other  children  than  to  grown-up 
persons.  They  understand  them  much  better 
and  are  less  afraid  of  them.  Within  half  an 
hour,  I  liad  closed  a  covenant  of  everlasting 
friendsliip  with  the  boy  into  whose  care  I  was 
given;  so  had  Marry,  my  companion. 

Our  little  mentor  took  us  to  the  dormitory, 
showed  us  our  clothes-press,  assisted  us  in  un- 
dressing and  helped  us  to  put  on  our  new  uni- 
forms. He  rolled  our  former  wearing  apparel 
into  a  bundle  which  was  to  be  returned  to  the 
nursery.  This  day,  being  a  holiday,  he  took  us 
during  the  rest  of  it  to  the  playgrounds,  into 
the  gardens,  to  the  hennery  and  to  the  stables. 
We  were  all  ears  and  eyes;  Milton  Green,  that 
was  his  name,  never  tired  of  our  questions.  He 
seemed  to  be  proud  of  his  new  office,  glad  to 
be  of  use  to  us,  and  to  show  how  much  more 
he  knew  than  we  little  ones. 

In  our  wanderings,  we  fell  in  with  some  boys 
and  girls  of  the  second  grade,  whom  we  had 
known  in  our  nursery,  among  them,  Bob,  who 
joyfully  exclaimed :  "Why,  there  is  Young  West! 
I'm  so  glad  to  see  you  in  school !  " 

He  inquired  after  Miss  Bella  and  the  rest  of 
our  mutual  friends.  From  that  moment,  Mil- 
ton Green,  and  with  him  all  my  new  compan- 
ions began  to  call  me  "  Young  West."     "  Young 


YOUNG  WEST.  35 

West,  you  are  wanted  in  the  office,"  or,  "  Young 
West,  let  us  have  a  run,"  or,  "Young  West, 
make  haste,  lest  you  will  be  late  for  dinner." 

Children  are  quick  and  keen  observers ; 
when,  therefore,  my  companions  observed  that 
the  teachers  seemed  to  bestow  some  additional 
attention  upon  me,  they,  too,  sought  my  com- 
panionship. After  a  few  weeks,  "  Young  West" 
was  a  favorite  with  all. 

Eight  hours  sleep,  eight  hours  work,  eight 
[yf  hours  recreation  is  the  general  rule  observed  in 
\  all  our  institutions.  At  our  school,  it  was 
adhered  to  in  its  spirit  rather  than  its  letter. 
No  objections  were  ever  raised,  if  children, 
whose  constitutions  required  more  sleep  than 
eight  hours,  would  use  some  of  their  leisure 
time  to  take  a  nap.  Neither  were  labor  and 
recreation  divided  by  hard  and  fast  lines. 
Some  of  our  labors  were  quite  a  recreation  to 
us,  while  during  the  hours  set  aside  for  recrea- 
tion, we  would  sometimes  engage  in  work, 
which,  though  playful,  demanded  a  larger  ex- 
penditure of  muscular  or  brain  force  than 
actual   labor   did. 

There  was  another  rule  to  which  we  were 
held.  Whatever  useful  work  children  of  our 
age   could   perform,  we  were   expected    to   do. 


36  YOUNG  WEST. 

Thus  we  learned  not  to  depend  upon  the  ser- 
vices of  others  for  our  personal  comfort,  while 
on  the  other  hand,  we  were  instructed  never  to 
refuse  friendly  aid  to  the  ones  who  were  in 
need  of  assistance.  Our  little  mentors,  or  our 
teachers,  would  show  us  how  to  perforii]  a  task 
well,  but  we,  ourselves,  had  to  do  the  work  in 
every  case. 

A  great  many  changes  have  occurred  since  I 
was  a  boy  and  many  valuable  impiovements 
have  been  introduced  ;  however,  it  is  a  delight 
to  me  to  remember  my  school  days  and  it  gives 
me  pleasure  to  pass  in  thought  again  through 
the  routine  of  one  of  them. 

From  the  dome  of  the  building  was  suspended 
a  large  dial  of  a  clock.  It  was  regulated  by 
electricity  from  the  provincial  timepiece  and  a 
gong  connected  with  it  would  strike  automati- 
cally all  quarters,  lialf  hours,  and  hours.  At 
six  o'clock  in  the  morning  it  would  set  free 
our  orchestrion,  and  thus  music  would  wake  us 
\  from  sleep  and  tell  us  that  it  was  time  to  leave 
the  bed. 

This  mode  of  rousing  us  from  slumber  had 
been  introduced  only  a  few  years  before  I 
entered  school.  Before  this,  the  sound  of  a  bell 
would  give  the  signal,  but  it  was  found  that 
many  of  the  little  ones  did  not  hear  it.     The 


Y(}l\\(;    W'h'ST.  37 


frequent  striking  of  the  clock  as  well  as  the 
many  signals  that  were  given  during  the  day 
by  means  of  bells,  had  accustomed  their  ears  to 
these  sounds  so  that  they  failed  to  rouse  them 
in  the  morning.  The  authorities,  therefoi'e,  in- 
troduced music,  not  as  a  luxury  but  as  a  neces- 
sity. An  officer  would  set  every  night  the 
orchestiion  for  a  new  piece  of  music.  The 
repertoire  covered  a  whole  year  so  that  the 
selections  should  not  become  tiresome.     -^^.^''^'''^ 

In  summer,  or  when  some  pleasure  trip  was 
to  be  undertaken,  we  would  rise  before  the  offi- 
cial hour.  Ordinarily,  however,  we  all  rose 
after  the  first  few  measures  of  the  music  were 
heard. 

Our  first  work  was  to  air  our  beds  ;  this  done, 
we  hastened  to  the  natatorium  or  the  lavato- 
ries. 

The  natatorium  could  not  accommodate  all  of 
us  at  a  time,  therefore,  we  took  turns.  Some 
would  take  their  daily  bath  in  the  morning, 
others  at  noon,  others  before  retiring  at  night. 
The  ones,  who  did  not  bathe  that  day  in  the 
morning,  washed,  and  combed  their  hair  in  the 
lavatories.  Returning  to  the  dormitory,  we 
fijiished  our  toilet,  and  the  beds,  having  been 
properly  aired,  were  now  made  by  us. 

Who  would  have  believed    in  ancient    times 


)(H,\(i  \\i:sT. 


I 


that  children  of  six  years  could  perforin  such 
labors?  Of  course  their  sleeping  arrangements 
were  so  clumsy,  that  to  keep  them  in  good  and 
healthy  conditions  was  an  unpleasant  and  tire- 
some work  ;  but  our  light  aluminum  cribs,  could 
be  lifted  with  ease  by  two  children.  It  took  little 
strength  to  turn  the  air  mattresses  and  cushions 
and  after  we  had  been  shown  three  or  four 
times  how  to  spread  sheets  and  blankets,  we 
performed  that  task  with  neatness.  Under  the 
supervision  of  the  mentors,  two  of  us  children 
would  first  make  the  one  bed  and  then  the 
other.  Within  five  minutes  all  was  done. 
Two  of  the  larger  boys  then  pressed  down  a 
lever  which  opened  the  upper  window  panes, 
and  two  others  set  free  the  fanning  machine 
which  in  less  than  fifteen  minutes  purified  the 
air. 

To  be  tidy  is  but  a  habit.  If  a  child  is  trained 
from  his  earliest  youth  to  put  everything  in  its 
proper  place,  and  what  is  much  more,  if  a  proper 
place  is  prepared  for  everything,  neatness  be- 
comes with  him  a  habit.  After  a  few  weeks, 
none  of  us  needed  to  be  told  how  to  keep  his 
personal  property  in  order ;  through  mere  force 
of  habit,  none  of  us  would  think  of  leaving  a 
comb  or  towel  on  the  floor  or  on  the  chair,  or 
place  an  article  where  it  did  not  belong. 


YOUNG  WEST.  39 


fTime  was  ours  until  7.15  A.  M.,  when  we  as- 
sembled in  the  dining-hall  for  breakfast.   Around 
every  table,  sixteen  of  us  were  seated,  namely  : 
five  mentors  with  their  charges,  making  fifteen, 
and  an  ofiicer  to  supervise  them.     Fruit,  milk, 
and    bread,   were    placed   in   plenty   upon    each 
table,  and  we  helped   ourselves.     We  were  al- 
lowed to  talk  and  laugh  at  meal  times,  but  not 
so  loud  as  to  interfere  with  the  comfort  of  others. 
Embarrasing    others    or    playing    tricks    upon 
/    others  for  fun  was  avoided  as  shameful.     It  was 
I     of  rare  occurrence  that  a  pupil  would  overstep 
V  the  limits  of  propriety  and  would  have  to  be 
reprimanded. 

The  dining-halls  extended  over  the  second 
floor  of  the  two  side  wings  but  neither  of  them 
was  given  to  the  exclusive  use  of  either  boys  or 
gii'ls.  We  dined  together,  studied  together,  and 
.[  played  together.  Only  our  dormitories  were 
located  in  opposite  wings  of  the  house. 

After  breakfast,  we  would  play  for  a  while  in 
the  yard  or  in  the  gardens,  read,  do  some  work 
to  which  we  had  taken  a  fancy,  or  we  would 
watch  the  older  boys  at  their  rougher  games. 
At  eight  o'clock,  we  repaired  to  our  class  rooms. 
To  every  subject  of  study,  a  full  hour  was 
devoted,  but  no  distinction  was  ever  made  as  in 
the  schools  of  old,  between  geography  and  his- 


40  YOUNG  WEST. 


tory,  01-  between  natural  history  and  physical 
science,  or  between  drawing  and  modelling,  or 
reading  and  grammar,  or  writing  and  orthog- 
raphy ;  all  related  studies  were  combined  into 
one.  They  were  taught  by  expert  teachers  and 
in  rooms  fitted  up  for  the  purpose.  Each  class, 
when  in  full  strength,  numbered  not  more  than 
twenty-five  pupils.  At  the  sound  of  the  gong, 
each  class  would  file  into  its  class-rooms  to  be 
instructed  by  teachers  who  were  masters  in  their 
branch.  Very  few  books  were  used  ;  the  teacher 
imparted  knowledge  mainly  by  means  of  conver- 
sation. His  aim  was  not  so  much  to  cram  tlie 
head  of  the  child  with  facts,  as  to  develop  his 
mind.  Books  were  used  only  when  labor  was  to 
be  saved;  when  the  art  of  reading  and  writing 
was  to  be  practiced,  or  when  tasks  in  arithmetic 
were  given  to  the  whole  class.  On  the  other 
hand,  no  object  was  ever  discussed  in  a  class 
without  placing  it,  or  a  good  model  or  illustra- 
tion of  it,  before  the  pupils.  Thus  we  always 
I  knew  what  we  were  talking  about  and,  more- 
'  over,  acquired  the  habit  of  observation. 

Our  school  government  took  great  pride  in 
these  methods  of  instruction  which  preserved 
the  eyesight  of  the  pu2jil,  and  not  infrequently 
were  we  informed  that  in  ages  long  past  by,  eye- 
glasses had  been  a  badge  of  scholarship.  "  Young 


YOUNG  WEST.  41 

West's  own  father,"  one  of  our  teachers  once 
told  the  class,  "  could  not  read  a  line  without 
the  use  of  spectacles."  Then  he  produced  photo- 
graphs of  men  of  the  19th  century  who  were 
renowned  for  their  scholarship  and  lo,  and  be- 
hold, most  of  them  wore  eye-glasses.  Some  had 
them  tied  to  a  string  or  chain,  others  had  them 
set  in  a  frame. 

After  every  hour  of  mental  work,  we  either 
had  a  half  hour's  lesson  in  gymnastics  or  calis- 
thenics or  an  hour's  lesson  in  manual  work. 

Dinner  was  served  at  12  M.  It  consisted  of 
delicious  vegetable  soups,  eggs,  cakes,  bread  and 
fruit.  The  bill  of  fare  was  changed  each  day. 
On  Sunday  and  Wednesday,  delicacies  were 
more  numerous  than  on  the  other  days  of  the 
week. 

Till  two  o'clock,  we  were  free  to  employ  our 
time  as  we  chose.  Instructions  then  followed 
until  4  P.  M.  The  hours  from  four  to  six  were 
again  our  own.  During  that  time  visitors  would 
come  to  see  us  or  we  would  take  a  walk  in  the 
iields  or  amuse  ourselves  in  the  gymnasium,  or 
indulge  in  sports.  Some  classes  would  take 
their  turn  in  the  natatorium. 

At  6  P.  M.,  the  gong  called  us  to  supper  which 
was  similar  in  kind  to  the  other  repasts.  After 
sujiper,  one  hour's  time  was  devoted  to  house- 


42  YOUNG  WEST. 


hold  work  preparatory  to  the  next  day.  We 
would  clean  our  clothes  and  shoes,  sew  on  a 
button  that  threatened  to  fall  off,  darn  a  stock- 
ing or  mend  a  rent.  We  learned  how  to  do  all 
such  work,  the  older  boys  and  girls  helping  the 
younger  ones.  As  our  fingers  were  made  nimble 
through  the  handling  of  all  kinds  of  tools,  such 
work  was  more  of  a  pleasure  to  us  than  a 
drudgery 

In  summer  time,  weather  permitting,  we 
would  spend  the  hours  from  8  to  10  in  the 
gardens ;  in  winter,  we  would  play  games 
indoors  or  listen  to  recitations,  or  concerts  in 
the  large  hall,  which  were  frequently  given  by 
delegations  from  neighboring  higher  schools, 
that  came  to  visit  us.  Those  who  needed  more 
hours  of  sleep  were  excused  from  attendance 
and  could  seek  their  beds  whenever  they  felt 
tired.     At  10  o'clock  all  retired  for  the  night. 

This  routine  was  never  broken  except  on 
Wednesdays,  Sundays,  and  on  national  holidays. 
On  these  days,  the  class  rooms  were  closed  and 
the  whole  time  was  ours.  We  would  then 
travel  in  groups  to  the  city  to  see  the  sights  and 
return  calls,  or  make  excursions  into  the  coun- 
try. It  happened  only  in  the  first  year  that 
such  privileges  were  denied  to  a  few  on  account 
of  misconduct ;  in  the  second  year,  hardly  any- 


YOUNG  WEST.  43 

one  was  found  who  would  not  cheerfully  yield 
to  order,  and  in  the  fourth  year,  a  deserved 
reprimand,  would  have  lost  for  the  culprit  liis 
mentoi'ship,  a  humiliation  wdiich  in  very  rare 
cases  was  incurred  or  inflicted. 

The  fact  that  we  were  alwa3^s  under  the  eye 
of  some  one  and  that  no  deed  could  be  per- 
petrated in  secret,  accounts  for  the  rare 
occurrence  of  any  action  on  our  pai't  that 
could  be  called  bad.  Some  teacher  was  always 
observing  us  and  no  sooner  were  any  evil  tend- 
encies in  our  characters  discovered  than  they 
were  uprooted  either  by  moral  instruction  and 
rational  expostulation,  or  in  obdurate  cases  by 
the  medical  advisor  who  wfis  attached  to  the 
official  staff  of  every  school. 

The  health  in  general  was  good.  The  hospi- 
tal was  rarely  filled.  Wise  precautions  made 
much  physicking  unnecessary.  I  cannot  remem- 
ber ever  having  been  seriously  laid  up,  except 
once,  when  in  a  race,  I  fell  and  fractured  my 
collarbone.  I  was  carefully  bandaged,  remained 
for  a  few  da^'s  in  the  hospital,  and  then  re- 
turned to  my  class. 

A  word  in  regard  to  our  apparel.  Our  clothes 
were  simple,  durable,  seasonable,  and  artfully 
designed  and  tiimmed.  Tu  eacli  school,  the 
pupils  wore  clothes  of  a  diflorent  shade.     Ours 


44  YOUNG  WEST. 

were  of  a  light  blue.  In  summer,  we  wore 
white  calico  waists,  knee  trousers,  made  of  light 
woolens  and  a  jacket  of  the  same  material.  Our 
shoes  were  made  of  soft  leather  that  required 
oiling  once  every  week.  Rubbing  with  a  damp 
cloth  would  keep  them  clean.  A  soft  cap,  trim- 
med like  the  jacket  and  trousers,  with  braid  of 
a  darker  shade,  covered  the  head.  Oxidized 
silver  buttons  formed  a  kind  of  ornamentation. 
Our  underwear  was  made  in  part  of  silk  and  in 
part  of  fine  wool.  For  winter  wear,  the  materi- 
als were  heavier,  and  an  overcoat  was  added ;  so 
wore  leggings  and  rubber  boots.  The  girls 
were  dressed  almost  like  the  boys;  they  wore 
wide  pantaloons  covered  by  a  short  skirt.  Each 
child  had  three  changes  of  underwear  and  two 
sets  of  clothing.  The  boys  were  supplied  in 
addition  with  overalls  and  the  girls  with  wide 
tiers  for  use  at  the  work-bench  or  at  any  kind 
of  work  that  was  likely  to  soil  their  garments. 

Speaking  of  cleanliness,  it  was  easy,  and  it 
gave  us  pleasure  to  observe  it.  Our  teachers 
told  us  how  in  former  times  people  used  to  con- 
stantly war  against  dust  and  filth  without  ever 
succeeding ;  how  they  became  discouraged  and 
allowed  disintegrating  matter  to  accumulate ; 
bow  the  work  of  cleaning  was  most  unwillingly 
performed   and   called   a    drudgery.     But  they 


YOUNG  WEST. 


also  informed  us  that  our  ancestors  had  to  con- 
tend with  a  great  many  difficulties  that  are 
unknown  to  us.  Our  sanitary  arrangements  and 
lavatories  are  of  the  best,  and  easily  accessible; 
our  roads  are  well  paved  ;  smoke,  cinders,  and 
ashes  are  unknown  because  electricity  is  used 
now  for  all  purposes  for  which  formerly  fires 
had  to  be  built ;  our  buildings  and  furniture, 
made  of  lacquered  aluminum  and  glass,  are 
cleansed  by  delicately  constructed  machinery 
that  operates  automatically.  The  very  germs 
of  unclean  matter  are  removed  by  the  most 
powerful  of  disinfectants,  electrified  water,  that 
is  sprayed  over  our  walls,  and  penetrates  into 
every  crack  and  crevice.  The  uncleanliness  of 
the  people  of  which  the  historians  of  former 
ages  complain  so  frequently,  was  caused  partly 
by  their  lack  of  machinery,  partly  by  the  moral 
discouragement  which  is  apt  to  seize  upon  men 
when  labor  will  never  show  satisfying  results, 
partly,  also,  by  the  unequal  distribution  of  the 
means  of  subsistence.  Unclean  matter,  we 
were  taught,  is  one  of  the  most  persistent 
enemies  of  humanity ;  it  poisons  the  health  and 
destroys  the  lives  of  millions.  It  defies  individ- 
ual assaults  and  it  yields  only  when  attacked  by 
combined  efforts. 


46  YOUNG  WEST. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  subjects  which  were  comprised  in  the 
course  of  our  studies,  were  not  made  in  them- 
selves the  end  and  aim  of  instruction,  they  were 
used  in  our  schools  as  means  of  developing  cor- 
responding mental  or  physical  abilities.  Mathe- 
matics, for  example,  were  taught  not  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  making  mathematicians  of  the 
pupils,  but  rather  foi-  the  purpose  of  exercising 
and  developing  their  logical  faculties ;  geog- 
raphy and  natural  sciences  were  taught  for 
the  purpose  of  imparting  the  habit  of  keen 
observation  ;  drawing,  to  awaken  their  sense  of 
the  beautiful ;  language,  to  train  them  in  the 
proper  expression  of  thought ;  manual  work  to 
practice  eyes  and  hands ;  gymnastics  to  develop 
muscular  force  and  general  health.  Our  teach- 
ers cared  less  for  the  readiness  and  skill 
acquired  in  a  certain  branch  of  knowledge,  than 
that  the  real  end  and  aims  were  attained  by  its 
study  and  its  relation  to  the  other  branches. 
Special  abilities  are,  after  all,  gifts  of  nature. 
The  talented  will  grasp  all  in  one  lesson  and 


YOUNG  WEST.  47 

excel  in  it  with  scarcely  any  effort  on  their 
part.  Persistent  training,  it  is  true,  can  ac- 
complish much  even  with  children  who  are  not 
gifted,  but  whatever  results  are  obtained,  they 
are  bought  at  a  high  price,  by  the  suppression 
of  some  other,  natural  talent. 

Our  social  order  employs  only  the  talented 
for  every  kind  of  work  which  is  to  be  per- 
formed ;  thus  we  are  obliged  to  try  and  discover 
these  natural  gifts  and  to  develop  them.  A 
great  many  branches  of  study  which  had  fig- 
ured prominently  upon  the  programmes  of  the 
schools  of  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  cen- 
turies, are,  therefore,  entirely  ignored  by  us. 

We  were  taught  in  our  primary  school  how 
to  read,  write  and  cipher,  we  were  directed  to 
observe  all  objects  surrounding  us;  we  were 
trained  how  to  express  our  thoughts  in  proper 
language;  and  in  addition,  we  learned  how  to 
draw,  to  model  in  clay,  and  to  handle  and  use 
all  kinds  of  tools. 

The  observant  eye  of  our  teacher  easily  de- 
tected the  talents  that  slumbered  in  every  child. 
Though  we  were  told  to  take  part  in  every  kind 
of  work  in  which  the  class  was  employed,  we 
were  never  discouraged  by  vituperation  if  we 
failed  in  branches  for  which  we  showed  no 
special  aptitude,  while  we  were  encouraged  by 


48  YOUNG  WEST. 


praise  when  we  gave  indications  of  the  posses- 
sion of  special  gifts. 

After  the  first  year,  our  teachers  formed 
some  estimate  in  regard  to  our  natural  talents 
and  in  the  second  thoy  assigned  us  to  classes 
in  which  courses  were  pursued  that  tended  to 
develop  these  special  aptitudes. 

A  boy,  slow  in  figures,  but  quick  in  observa- 
tion, was  not  retarded  on  account  of  his  failure 
in  arithmetic ;  he  was  placed  into  a  class  in 
which  that  branch  took  a  secondary  rank  but 
in  which  full  scope  was  given  to  observation. 
Whoever  excelled  in  practical  woik  was  not 
discouraged  or  called  a  dunce  because  of  his 
failure  in  purely  mental  work  and  vica  versa. 

I  showed  talents  and  a  decided  predilection 
for  all  kinds  of  manual  labor.  I  was  handy 
with  tools  and  showed  special  aptitude  for 
keeping  my  belongings  scrupulously  clean.  My 
shoes  had  a  superior  gloss,  my  clothes  never 
showed  a  stain,  my  bed  clothes  were  neatly 
folded.  I  was  also  a  good  draftsman,  and  I 
preferred  to  convey  my  thoughts  by  a  draw- 
ing or  a  model  rather  than  by  veibal  descrip- 
tion. I  delighted  to  assist  in  the  housework, 
and  to  dig  in  the  garden  was  a  keen  pleasure- 
I  executed  with  neatness  whatever  task  was 
given  to  me.     I  learned  to  read  fluently  and  to 


YOUNG  WEST.  49 


write  a  legible  hand,  but  I  cared  little  for  liter- 
ature. I  began  to  warm  up  for  physical  science 
only  when  we  studied  chemistry  in  later  years. 
In  figures,  I  was  very  slow,  and  only  geometry 
and  trigonometry  had  some  charm  for  me.  I 
displayed  no  rhetorical  talents,  and  whatever 
successes  I  had  in  after  life,  were  never  the 
result  of  captivating  speech.  I  could  state  a 
fact  in  plain  language,  but  whenever  I  failed  to 
convince  bj^  argument,  I  was  utterly  lost.  I 
could  reach  the  head  but  never  the  heart  of  a 
listener. 

My  second  year  found  me  in  a  class  in  which 
these,  my  natural  talents  were  allowed  a  wider 
scope,  and  when  I  left  school  at  the  end  of  four 
years,  I  was  assigned  to  a  higher  graded  school 
in  which  the  manual  arts  and  labor  received 
special  attention  and  were  given  more  time 
than  studies  of  a  literary  nature. 

I  had  been  a  tiny  babe  and  a  weakly  child, 
now  I  began  all  of  a  sudden  to  grow  and  to  de- 
velop. My  chest  expanded  and  my  muscles 
hardened.  I  could  run,  jump,  climb,  row  or 
swim  for  hours  without  fatigue.  There  were 
others  of  my  size  and  age  who  were  my  supe- 
riors in  these  sports,  but  I  did  not  stand  very 
far  below  them  in  rank. 

I  acquired  the  knack  of  handling  tools  with 


50  YOUNG  Wi:ST. 


ease.  In  my  last  year,  Mr.  Peters  frequently 
detailed  "  Young  West  "  for  work  in  the  gaidon, 
and  he  used  to  watch  with  apparent  delight 
how  I  swung  a  little  pick  axe  or  plied  a  small 
sized  spade. 

My  relations  to  my  classmates  were  of  a  most 
pleasant  nature.  We  formed  one  brotherliood ; 
as  there  were  no  private  interests  that  clashed 
with  one  another,  there  was  never  cause  for  dis- 
cord. Some  boys,  of  course,  had  attractions  for 
each  other  stronger  than  had  others  for  them, 
but  indifference  and  even  instinctive  moral 
antipathy  never  was  fanned  into  hostility  by 
harsh  conflict. 

I  associated  a  great  deal  with  girls  and  with 
boys  who  were  younger  than  myself.  Little  as 
I  cared  for  literary  pursuits,  I  admired  literary 
attainments  in  others  and  could  pass  hours  with 
boys  and  girls  who  excelled  in  mental  studies 
but  had  no  taste  for  manual  labor.  I  felt  a 
kind  of  superioi'ity  over  them,  when  they  sought 
my  advice  or  came  to  ask  my  assistance.  This 
preference  developed  by  no  means  a  dislike 
towards  such  of  my  friends,  who  displayed  tal- 
ents like  mine.  Quite  to  the  contrary,  we 
would  depend  upon  one  another's  help,  when- 
ever we  undertook  a  work  that  one  could  not 
well  perform  alone.     We  would  then  put  our 


YOUNG  WEST.  51 

heads  together  and  plan  and  discuss  and  design 
the  task.  Yet  a  most  pleasurable  feeling  came 
over  me  whenever  I  was  sitting  among  some 
younger  boys  or  girls,  listening  to  their 
prattle,  and  saw  them  watching  the  develop- 
ment of  a  toy,  that  I  was  making  for  one  of 
them,  under  the  clever  treatment  of  my  knife. 

Our  teachers  loved  us  and  we  idolized  them. 
Every  child  found  in  one  or  the  other  his  ideal, 
but  that  was  not  so  great  a  miracle,  as  it  may 
appear.  Mr.  Peters,  constantly  watchful  of  the 
unfolding  of  our  talents,  assigned  us  judiciously 
to  the  care  of  teachers  who  were  specialists  in 
the  very  branches  we  loved  so  well.  Thus  it 
was  but  natural  that  we  should  admire  their 
knowledge,  and  eagerly  imbibe  their  instruction. 

Besides,  Mr.  Peters,  whom  we  all  admired 
and  loved,  and  who  seemed  to  be  with  ns  every- 
where, and  on  all  occasions,  1  thought  a  good 
deal  of  two  teachers.  One  was  a  woman  and 
the  other  a  man. 

Mrs.  Howe  was  about  thirty-five  years  of  age. 
She  was  the  wife  of  one  of  our  male  teachers, 
Mr.  Howe.  She  had  two  children,  a  boy  of 
twelve  years,  who  was  a  member  of  the  sciiool 
for  which  we  prepared,  and  a  girl  of  nine  years, 
who  was  the  inmate  of  a  primary  school  like 
ours.     According  to  the  laws,  children  of  teach- 


52  YOUNG  WEST. 

ers,  had  to  receive  their  instruction  elsewhere ; 
they  came,  however,  on  visiting  days  to  see 
their  parents.  Mrs.  Howe,  I  think,  loved  some 
of  us  scarcely  less  than  her  own  children  ;  I  was 
especially,  one  of  her  favorites.  She  taught  us 
how  to  draw,  how  to  model  in  clay,  and  similar 
work  but  while  I  was  quick  in  these  lessons 
and  admired  her  artistic  creations,  I  became 
much  more  attached  to  her  for  the  fascination 
and  sweetness  of  her  personality.  I  loved  to  be 
in  her  company ;  and  she  had  always  a  kiss  or 
a  kind  word  for  me.  I  imagined  she  loved  me 
better  than  the  rest,  although  she  seemed  as 
kind  and  considerate  to  all.  A  flock  of  little 
ones  would  surround  her  whenever  she  crossed 
our  playgrounds.  From  her  I  learned, —  I  have 
good  cause  to  believe, —  the  neatness  and  accu- 
racy in  work,  which  in  after  life,  helped  me  so 
much  and  raised  me  to  the  position  of  an  officer 
in  the  industrial  army. 

Mr.  Groce  was  a  specialist  in    horticulture; 
-he  had  charge  over  the  extensive  gardens  that 
I  surrounded   our   school.       A    staff    of    helpers 
Worked  under  his  direction,   but  some    of   the 
gardening    was    done    by    us    children.       We 
worked  slowly,  it  is  true,  but  when  fifty  of  us 
were  ordered  to  dig  a  trench  or  to  weed  flower- 
beds, it  took  no  more  time  than  if  two  or  three 


YOUNG   WEST.  53 


men,  even  five,  had  been  set  to  work  at  it. 
And  what  pleasure  it  gave  us  to  work  in  the 
garden  under  Mr.  Groce's  eye  !  He  would  show 
us  how  to  hold  our  little  spades  and  rakes  to 
best  advantage.  "  Do  your  work  with  your 
heads,"  he  would  say,  "  and  you  will  not  blister 
your  hands.  Never  go  twice  when  you  can 
attain  the  same  results  by  going  once."  lie 
was  ever  watchful  that  we  did  not  overwork  or 
overheat  ourselves.  No  matter  how  eager  we 
were  sometimes  to  finish  a  task,  he  would  make 
us  stop  when  he  observed  that  our  youthful 
strength  was  getting  exhausted.  He  disliked  to 
see  work  done  in  a  slipshod  manner.  "  Take 
your  time,  boys  and  girls,"  he  would  say,  "  but 
do  your  task  properly." 

Although  fruit  and  vegetables  formed  the 
larger  part  of  our  fare  at  the  table,  children  love 
to  eat  fruit  that  they  pick  themselves  off  the 
tiees  and  bushes.  He  never  objected  to  our 
picking  berries  or  plucking  cherries.  He  only 
warned  us  not  to  waste  useful  food  and  not  to 
destroy  our  health  by  over  indulgence.  I  can- 
not remember  any  boy  or  girl  who  ever  ate 
in  the  garden  more  than  an  occasional  berry, 
or  a  few  cherries  Even  in  the  fall,  when 
we  helped  to  harvest  the  ripe  fruit,  we  did 
not   think    of    either   willfully    destroying   the 


54  VOL/Na   WiJST. 


fruit  or  appropriating  any  for  our  own  immedi- 
ate appetites. 

Mr.  Groce  seemed  to  take  special  interest  in 
me.  "  I  see  no  reason  why  "  Young  West " 
should  not  live  to  be  an  old  man,"  he  said,  ''he 
is  growing  stronger  every  day  and  harrows  and 
digs  like  a  little  man."  He  himself  was  a  lover 
of  athletic  sports,  an  expert  rider  on  the  cycle ; 
an  excellent  swimmer  and  none  of  the  teachers 
in  the  school  surpassed  him  in  pitching  ball. 
Such  qualities  were  sure  to  be  admired  by  us 
boys  and  as  Mr.  Groce  would  drop  now  and 
then  a  hint  to  me  how  such  feats  could  be 
accomplished,  it  was  quite  natural  that  I  loved 
him  and  that  he  stands  before  me  even  now, 
the  very  ideal  of  manliness. 

When  I  speak  of  Mrs.  Howe  and  the  teachers 
whom  I  loved  best  while  attending  the  primary 
school,  1  wish  by  no  means  to  intimate  that  I 
looked  upon  the  rest  of  the  teachers  with  cold- 
ness, indifference  or  dislike.  They  were  all 
well-trained  educators,  who  had  chosen  their 
occupation  out  of  pure  love  for  it  and  it  would 
have  been  a  miracle  had  they  not  succeeded.  I 
singled  out  these  two  teachers,  and  clung  to 
them  with  particular  love ;  but  other  school- 
mates of  mine  displayed  similar  affection  for 
other  teachers  and  felt  for  Mr.  Groce  and  Mrs. 


YOUNG  WEST.  55 


Howe  no  greater  liking  than  I  felt  toward  their 
favorites. 

Besides  the  staff  of  instructors,  some  oflicials 
lived  in  the  same  building  with  us,  who  pio- 
vided  for  our  wants.  There  were  cooks 
and  bakers,  engineers,  carpenters,  iron-workers, 
masons,  cobblers,  and  butcluMS ;  there  weie 
gardeners  and  men  who  attendid  to  the  cattle, 
and  the  products  of  the  farm  and  dairy.  We 
children  came  frequently  in  contact  with  them; 
we  delighted  to  watch  them  at  work,  and  fre- 
quently some  of  us  were  asked  to  help  them 
or  do  some  light  work  under  their  direction. 

I  had  many  fiiends  among  them,  especially 
among  the  men  who  took  care  of  the  animals. 
I  enjoyed  being  near  and  around  the  stables  in 
which  all  kinds  of  domestic  animals  were  kept. 
Our  cows  supplied  the  hospital  with  fresh  milk. 
The  milk  supply  for  the  whole  school  came  in  a 
condensed  form  from  the  large  national  ranches 
where, — as  we  were  told, —  thousands  of  heads 
of  cattle  were  kept. 

The  few  horses  supported  in  the  stables,  weie 
used  to  cart  farm  products  from  the  fields  and 
gardens  to  the  barns ;  for  the  transportation  of 
persons,  bicycles  and  electric  carriages  sutficed. 
A  few  sheep  and  goats  were  kept  to  serve  as 
objects  for  our  lessons,  so  were  the  inmates  of 


56  TOVNG  WEST. 


the  poultry  yard.  The  men  and  women,  attend- 
ing to  the  stables  and  farmyard  never  tired  of 
answering  intelligently  all  our  questions  in 
regard  to  the  life  and  habits  of  the  animals  in 
their  charge.  They  showed  us,  how,  when 
kindly  treated,  these  dumb  creatures  will 
return  our  love  by  sincere  devotion.  If  one  of 
us  children  showed  an  inclination  to  be  cruel 
to  animals,  lie  was  treated  as  one  suffering  from 
a  mental  disease.  When  I  was  laid  up  in  the 
hospital,  with  a  broken  collar-bone,  I  observed 
that  one  of  the  boys  was  put  to  sleep  and 
spoken  to  by  the  doctor  in  the  same  manner  as 
T  remembered  ray  friend  Bob  once  was  treated 
in  the  nursery. 

In  the  midst  of  so  large  a  number  of  children, 
it  happened  that  the  ones  who  had  the  same 
likings  met  more  frequently  and  at  the  same 
places,  than  did  the  rest ;  that  they  discussed 
the  subjects  in  which  they  were  interested  more 
thoroughly  and  hence  became  more  closely 
attached  to  one  another.  Granting  opportuni- 
ties for  thus  grouping  themselves  in  perfect 
liberty,  the  teachers  easily  discovered  the  in- 
born talents  of  their  pupils.  They  formed 
congenial  classes  of  them  and  made  their  favor- 
ite topics  the  main  objects  of  study.  The 
pupils  thus  learned  with  eagerness  and  grasped 


YOUNG  WEST.  57 


a  lesson  iu  a  very  short  time.  Under  this 
system  of  teaching,  none  needed  to  be  stimu- 
lated, quite  to  the  contrary,  teachers  had  fre- 
quently to  curb  the  eagerness  of  boys  or  girls 
who  wished  to  proceed  before  they  had  fully 
mastered  a  previous  lesson. 

To  teach  pupils,  who  are  eager  to  learn,  is 
easy.  The  troubles  which  teachers  of  previous 
ages  experienced,  arose  from  the  fact  that  they 
were  forced  to  teach  children  who  were  unwill- 
ing and  sometimes  unable  to  learn  certain 
lessons.  1  own  a  manuscript  containing  a  num- 
ber of  lectures  which  my  father  prepared  and 
delivered  shortly  before  his  death.  In  one  of 
them,  he  describes  his  life  in  school.  Teachers 
were  at  his  time  censured  when  a  sufficient 
number  of  their  pupils  failed  to  pass  an  exami- 
nation. They  were  obliged,  therefore,  to 
almost  pump  a  lesson  into  a  dull  child's  head. 
Dull?  By  no  means.  The  children  of  that  age 
were  as  bright  as  are  ours,  but  they  were  forced 
to  study  things  for  which  they  had  neither  taste 
nor  talent  and  were  not  permitted  to  select 
studies  for  which  their  innermost  soul  was 
yearning. 

What  happy  days  my  school  days  were  when 
compared  with  those  of  my  father's  time  ! 


58  YOUNG  WEST. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Some  time,  of  course  passed  by,  before  I  had 
accustomed  myself  to  my  new  suiToundiiigs. 
So  many  objects  crowded  upon  my  mind  that 
my  full  attention  was  enlisted  to  master  them. 
Time  flew  and  more  than  four  weeks  had  passed 
before  I  gave  a  thought  to  the  nursery  or  the 
friends  whom  I  had  left  behind.  It  was  even 
by  accident  that  I  was  reminded  of  them  one 
day. 

I  happened  to  meet  Mr.  Rogers  in  our  yard. 
Of  course  I  ran  to  him  ;  he  took  me  up  in  his 
strong  arms,  kissed  me  tenderly  and  asked : 
"How  is  Young  West?  Why,  you  have  grown 
to  be  quite  a  little  man  since  I  saw  you  last. 
How  pretty  you  look  in  your  uniform  !  but  you 
seem  to  have  forgotten  us,  you  never  came  to 
call  upon  your  old  friends."  I  could  hardly 
keep  back  my  tears.  "  I  have  not  had  a  chance," 
I  stammered.  Then  I  asked  after  Miss  Bella 
and  the  rest,  naming  a  string  of  children  whom 
I  knew.  Mr.  Rogers  gave  all  the  latest  news 
from  the  nursery.  Before  parting,  he  promised 
that  he  would  arrange  for  me  to  visit  the  nurs- 
ery at  an  early  day. 


YOUNG  WEST.  59 

On  the  following  Wednesday,  Milton  Green 
received  orders  to  take  his  two  wards  into  the 
city.  He  had  made  the  trip  at  various  occa- 
sions, bnt  heretofore,  he  had  been  under  the 
supervision  of  a  guardian,  this  time  he  was  to 
act  independently  and  what  was  a  ranch  greater 
honor  to  him,  he  was  to  take  charge  of  his  two 
little  wards. 

The  night  previous  to  this,  my  first  visit,  I 
was  very  restless,  and  could  not  got  to  sleep. 
Long  before  the  orchestrion  began  to  play,  I 
was  wide  awake,  while  Milton,  whose  bed  stood 
at  my  right,  slept  as  if  the  proposed  excursion 
was  an  every  day  affair  with  him.  1  passed  in 
my  mind  through  all  the  pleasures  which  I  ex- 
pected on  the  holiday.  We  were  not  alone  to 
visit  the  nursery  but  to  see  some  other  friends. 
We  were  to  call  at  the  place  where  my  mother 
and  grandfather  lived,  then  at  the  residence  of 
Milton's  relations,  finally,  at  the  parents  of 
TTarry,  our  companion. 

How  slow  the  hands  on  the  dial  of  the  large 
clock  moved  I  Would  morning  never  dawn? 
For  the  first  time,  I  heard  the  wheals  in  the 
orchestrion  squeak,  previous  to  the  intonation  of 
the  musical  piece  —  then  came  the  blast  of  cor- 
nets and  trombones,  the  clashing  of  cymlials,  the 
roll  of  drums  ;  at  last  —  the  boys  opened  dream- 


60  YOVNQ  WEST. 

ily  their  eyes,  I  jumped  out  of  my  bed  and 
began  to  dress  in  such  a  flurry  that  I  could  not 
find  anything.  Milton  helped  me.  "  Don't  be 
in  such  a  haste,"  said  he,  "  there  is  plenty  of 
time." 

We  put  on  our  gala  suits,  passed  in  review 
before  the  teacher  who  was  on  duty,  took  break- 
fast and  reported  at  the  office  For  that  day, 
more  than  two  hundred  children  had  received 
permission  to  visit  the  city.  Each  mentor 
received  a  number  of  cards.  Some  of  them,  I 
observed,  Milton  showed  at  the  tunnel  stations, 
others,  he  showed  at  the  place  where  we  took 
lunch,  one  in  the  hippodrome,  in  which  we  were 
told  to  spend  the  afternoon. 

A  few  of  our  teachers  took  the  same  train 
with  us,  but  did  not  appear  to  supervise  us ;  we 
enjoyed  perfect  freedom.  By  way  of  the  tunnel 
route,  we  reached  the  city  after  a  few  minutes 
ride. 

One  month  ago,  when  I  passed  the  streets 
for  the  first  time,  the  sights  so  bewildered  me 
that  I  observed  almost  nothing.  Now  all  came 
back  so  me.  My  friend  Milton,  in  addition,  felt 
duty-bound  to  call  our  attention  to  every  large 
structure  on  our  way  and  to  explain  its  purposes. 

The  trees,  which  lined  the  streets,  the  parks 
which  intersected  the  squares,  did  not  impress  us 


YOUNG  WEST.  61 

very  much ;  there  were  larger  trees  near  the 
school  and  the  parks  did  not  compare  with  our 
gardens.  The  buildings,  the  streets,  and  the 
people,  that  swarmed  therein  on  foot,  on  bicycles, 
and  in  electric  vehicles  surprised  us  much 
more. 

"This  is  the  teachers'  club-house,"  Milton 
would  say,  "Here  teachers  meet  and  have  a 
good  time."  We  saw,  indeed,  some  of  our 
teachers  entering.  "  Here  is  the  post  office  ;  here 
are  the  sample-rooms ;  and  right  here  in  the 
neighborhood  is  the  supply  department.  I  have 
never  been  inside  of  any  of  these  buildings,  but 
boys  who  have  seen  the  interior,  could  not  stop 
speaking  of  the  pretty  things  they  saw  exhibited 
therein  for  sale.  They  are  '  immense.' "  Im- 
mense was  a  favorite  word  of  Milton's.  He 
would  apply  it  indiscriminately  to  express  sur- 
prise or  admiration. 

I  had  frequently  observed  some  large  objects 
flying  through  the  air  and  INfr.  Groce  had  told 
me  that  they  were  "  aeroplanes."  These  air 
ships  were  moved  by  electricity  and  people 
would  employ  them  when  they  travelled  to 
foreign  countries,  particularly  when  they  had  to 
cross  oceans.  We  now  saw  one  of  these  ma- 
chines starting  from  the  top  of  a  tower.  The 
people  upon  it    waved   their   handkercliiefs   as 


62  YOUNG  WEST. 


"• 


they  rose  higher  and  liigher,  until  they  vanished 
out  of  our  sight. 

We  arrived  safely  at  the  square  of  which  the 
nursery  formed  the  rear.  How  small  and  in- 
significant it  now  appeared  to  me  !  Mr.  Rogers 
received  us  at  the  door ;  the  nurses,  Miss  Bella 
among  them,  welcomed  us  most  heartily,  the 
little  ones  ciowded  around  us,  but  although  I 
enjoyed  this  greeting,  T  felt  disappointed  in  a 
measure.  I  had  expected  to  be  thrilled  by  a 
more  intense  sensation  of  pleasure,  and  the 
reality  was  less  than  the  anticipation.  I  had 
already  outgrown  the  nursery,  and  even  the 
charm  of  old  friendship  vanishes  in  course  of 
time.  I  felt  too  old  to  play  with  these  little 
tots ;  I  had  a  new  sensation  of  diffidence  and 
with  the  overwhelming  self-consciousness  of 
childhood  T  felt  that  to  play  with  these  other 
children  would  have  lowered  me  in  their  eyes  as 
well  as  my  own.  I,  usually,  preferred  the  com- 
pany of  younger  ones  to  that  of  older  ones,  but 
these  little  ones  were  yet  dressed  in  kilts  and 
I  wore  a  uniform.  That  made  quite  a  differ- 
ence. They  were  babies,  while  I  was  a  school 
boy.  We  stayed  just  long  enoue"h  to  enjoy  the 
admiration  of  our  former  teachers;  and  we  de- 
parted earlier  than  I  expected  to  leave  the  place 
with  the  promise  to  call  again.     This  promise 


TOUNO  WEST.  G3 


was  given  in  good  faith  but  after  a  time,  our 
visits  to  the  nuisery  grew  less  frequent  until 
they  ceased  altogether. 

Mr.  Rogers  led  us  now  to  the  adjacent  wing  in 
which  my  mother,  her  husband,  and  Dr.  Leete, 
my  grandfather — (Mrs.  Leete  had  died  a  few 
years  ago)  —  had  their  private  apartments.  The 
square  in  which  they  lived,  was  inhabited  mostly 
by  members  of  the  medical  profession,  including 
hospital  nurses.  After  serving  a  few  hours  a 
day  in  the  hospital,  they  would  return  to  their 
homes  and  use  their  leisure  time  as  they  pleased. 
Some  of  them,  like  my  grandfather,  who  had 
retired  from  active  service,  would  spend  their 
time  partly  in  study,  partly  in  travelling. 

From  Mr.  Rogers,  I  learned  the  reason  why 
neither  my  mother  nor  Dr.  Leete  had  ever  come 
to  see  me  in  school.  My  mother  had  been  sick 
and  my  grandfather  had  just  returned  from  a 
trip.  When  I  entered  the  room,  I  found  that 
mother  was  quite  pale ;  she  held  a  little  baby- 
girl  in  her  arms.  She  told  me  that  she  was  my 
new  sister  and  that  her  name  was  Edith.  We 
found  my  grandfather  in  an  adjoining  room, 
stretched  upon  a  sofa,  reading.  Both  my 
mother  and  grandfather  seemed  surprised  that 
I  looked  so  well.  The  latter  asked  me  a  number 
of  questions  which  I  answered  to  the  best  of  my 


r.4  YOUNG   WEST. 

knowledge,  although  I  did  not  understand  their 
drift.  He  also  placed  an  instrument  at  my  bare 
chest  and  back,  and  listened  through  it  at  my 
respiration.  Then,  with  a  knowing  look  at  my 
mother,  he  said ;  "  Julian  will  live  to  be  an 
old  man,  unless  he  meets  with  some  unforeseen 
accident." 

Mr.  Parkman,  the  gentleman  who  used  to 
accompany  my  mother  when  she  came  to  the 
nursery,  was  not  at  home  that  day,  he  was  on 
duty. 

I  expressed  the  desire  to  see  the  house  and  my 
grandfather  volunteered  to  act  as  our  guide. 
The  house  did  not  vary  much  in  its  structure 
and  appointments  from  the  rest  of  the  houses, 
not  even  from  the  school.  The  underground 
floor  contained  a  natatorium  and  the  usual  sani- 
tary accommodations ;  the  floor  above  it  was 
divided  into  three  parts :  Kitchen,  dining-hall 
find  library,  all  of  which  were  sumptuously 
furnished.  One  half  of  the  second  floor  formed 
the  parlor,  and  the  other  lialf  as  well  as  the 
entire  third  floor,  to  which  the  tenants  ascended 
by  means  of  elevator  cars,  was  divided  into 
suites  of  two  and  three  rooms,  which  served  as 
bed-chambers  for  the  residents. 

Passing  through  the  rooms  and  corridors,  we 
nu't  a  number  of  people  wlio  all  expressed  their 


FOUNG  WEST.  05 

pleasure  at  seeing  "  Young  West "  in  such  good 
healtli.  I  observed  tliat  some  of  them  wore 
ribbons  of  various  coloi's  in  their  buttonlioles, 
and  iny  grandfather  explained  that  these  ribbons 
were  tokens  of  pid)lic  recognition  for  some  ex- 
traordinary service  whicli  the  wearers  had 
rendered  to  the  community.  He  himself,  wore 
the  blue  ribbon,  which  high  honor  had  come  to 
him  througli  the  discovery  of  a  specific  that 
would  cure  cancer,  a  disease  which,  heretofore, 
had  been  considered  incurable.  He  hoped  that 
some  day  I  would  become  the  recipient  of  the 
thanks  of  the  community  and  be  decorated  with 
at  least  a  white  ribbon. 

Tliis  suggestion  remained  forever  in  my  mind. 
It  recurred  to  me  when  after  many  efforts  and 
many  failures  in  these  later  years  T  finally  suc- 
ceeded and  the  blue  ribbon  was  publicly  tied  to 
my  buttonhole. 

We  returned  to  my  mother's  apartments  and 
after  she  had  promised  to  return  my  call  at  an 
early  day,  we  took  our  leave  to  see  the  relatives 
of  my  friends.  The  incidents  of  these  visits 
were  of  a  similar  nature. 

At  lunch  time,  we  entered  the  nearest  dining- 
liall.  Milton  produced  his  passports  and  we 
received  about  the  same  fare  that  we  did  at 
school.      We  observed,  however,  that  the  gi'own 


GG  YOUNG  WEST. 

up  folks  would  order  a  variety  of  dishes  which 
we  had  never  seen  before  or  tasted.  Our  little 
mentor  informed  us  that  it  was  not  well  for 
eliildren  to  partake  of  all  kinds  of  food  but  that 
our  promotion  to  high  school  at  the  age  of  four- 
teen would  include  also  the  privilege  of  ordering 
foii^iinner  whatever  we  pleased. 

We  spent  an  hour  or  so  walking  through  the 
stieets  and  parks  until  we  felt  tired,  and  then 
we  took  a  public  carriage  that  brought  us  to 
the  hippodrome. 

In  my  time,  the  building  was  not  nearly  so 
large  and  magnifieent  as  it  is  now,  but  even  then 
it  seated  more  than  fifteen  thousand  persons, 
around  the  immense  arena.  Three  performances 
were  given  each  day,  one  in  the  morning,  one  in 
the  afternoon,  and  one  during  the  evening. 
There  were  walking  matches,  bicycle  races,  and 
horse  races.  Trained  animals  showed  their 
tricks ;  men  and  women  peiformed  feats  of 
agility,  endurance,  and  strength,  and  the  exhibi- 
tion closed  with  the  production  of  a  comic 
pantomime  which  was  greatly  enjoyed  by  us 
children,  who  had  never  seen  anything  like  it 
before.  Milton  had  visited  the  place  several 
times  and  gave  us  the  benefit  of  his  knowledge, 
lie  was  quite  a  critic  in  our  eyes  and  we  al- 
lowed ourselves  to  be  led  by  his  riper  judgment. 


I 


TOUNQ  WEST.  67 


He  declared  the  show  was  "  immense,"  and  that 
satisfied  us. 

The  hippodrome  had  been  lit  up  with  thou- 
sands of  electric  lights  during  the  performancei 
thus  we  did  not  observe  that  night  was  ap- 
proaching. When  we  left  the  building,  we 
found  it  was  night,  but  the  city  was  ablaze 
with  lights  and  wliat  a  magnificent  sight  that 
was  !  The  walls  of  the  houses,  made  of  stained 
glass,  showed  the  most  beautiful  pictures,  mostly 
historical  scenes,  some  of  which  Milton  was  able 
to  explain  to  us.  I  saw  them  afterwards  so 
frequently  that  they  lost  their  significance  to 
me,  but  I  remember  how  vigorously  a  few  of 
them  impressed  me  at  the  time.  One  of  them 
represented  the  landing  of  the  Puritans  at 
Plymouth  Rock ;  another  was  a  scene  in  which 
fire  and  smoke  issued  out  of  iron  tubes,  placed 
on  two  hills.  Milton  said  these  tubes  were 
called  cannons  or  guns.  Two  sets  of  uniformed 
people,  one  clad  in  blue,  the  other  in  gray, 
struck  at  each  other  with  long  curved  knives, 
sabres,  explained  Milton  ;  some  of  these  people 
were  lying  sick  on  the  ground,  bleeding  from 
wounds  as  I  did  when  Bobby  hit  my  head  with 
the  stone,  but  nobody  seemed  to  care  for  them, 
quite  to  the  contrary,  people  role  their  horses 
over  them.     Milton  said  this  picture  was  called 


68  TOUJS'G  WEST. 

the  Battle  of  Gettysburg ;  that  many  people 
had  objected  to  exposing  such  a  barbmous  scene 
to  the  view  of  the  3'oung,  but  otheis  th(jught  it 
was  well  that  the  children  should  fur ni  some 
idea  of  the  folly  and  the  savagery  of  the  mecj- 
ia;val  ages,  so  as  not  to  wish  for  a  I'eturu  of 
those  times.  They  would  thus  learn  to  appre- 
ciate more  the  higher  virtues  and  nobility  of  our 
present  glorious  conditions  of  universal  peace. 

Another  picture  represented  a  section  of 
ancient  Boston, —  the  Noith  End.  I  wondered 
how  people  could  have  ever  lived  in  such  hov- 
els, and  why  the  children  in  the  streets  looked 
unclean,  hungry  and  careworn. 

If  I  admired  Milton  Green,  it  was  that  even- 
ing. I  never  suspected  him  of  being  so  learned 
and  well-informed.  He  told  us  that  he  had 
read  how  in  ancient  times,  a  few  people  were 
allowed  to  enjoy  all  the  wealth  of  the  nation 
while  the  greater  number  weie  deprived  even 
of  the  necessities  of  life ;  that  the  former  were 
called  rich,  the  latter,  poor. 

By  that  time  we  had  reached  the  station, 
and  a  few  minutes  later,  we  were  comfortably 
seated  at  our  table  in  the  dining  hall  of  our 
school.  Almost  all  the  excursionists  had  re- 
turned. We  were  tired  and,  therefore,  we 
sought  our  beds  earlier  than  usual. 


YOUNG  WEST.  m 


I  passed  again  a  restless  night.  The  day  had 
left  too  many  impressions  upon  my  mind.  I 
dreamt  that  I  was  falling  from  a  trapeze, 
right  into  the  midst  of  a  battlefield ;  horses 
were  about  to  I'un  over  my  body,  when  Mr. 
Rogers  came  to  my  rescue  ;  he  picked  me  u^j, 
but  he  carried  me  to  the  North  End  where  peo- 
ple took  away  my  pretty  clothes  and  dressed 
me  in  filthy  rags  and  deposited  me  at  the  door 
of  a  rickety  house. 

For  the  next  few  days,  I  looked  pale,  and 
Mrs.  Howe,  to  whom  I  told  my  adventures  and 
dreams,  found  it  not  an  easy  task  to  quiet  me. 

However,  the  shadows  passed  by.  I  went  to 
the  city  time  and  time  again  and  I  saw  all  the 
sights,  without  ever  experiencing  similar  dis- 
comforts. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Four  happy  years  went  by. '  I  had  been 
transferred  from  one  class  to  another.  1  had 
worn  with  great  pride  a  silver  cord  around  the 
collar  of  my  jacket  and  had  taken  charge  of 
smaller  children  as  their  mentor. 

We  were  not  promoted  as  was  the  custom  of 
the  19th  century,  in  full  classes  and  from  one 


70  YOUNG  WEST. 

school  to  another ;  on  the  contrary  we  under- 
went a  process  of  careful  sifting.  Such  of  us  as 
showed  similar  inclinations  and  talents  were 
grouped  together  in  separate  school  buildings 
for  instruction  and  further  development.  I  had 
reached  my  10th  year  and  had  shown  a  decided 
liking  for  manual  occupations  rather  than  for 
mental  work.  I  was,  therefore,  sent  with  a 
number  of  other  boys  and  girls,  who  had  dis- 
played similar  traits,  to  an  intermediate  school 
in  which  the  general  development  of  faculties 
like  ours  was  to  receive  special  attention. 

The  new  school  was  situated  at  a  greater  dis- 
tance from  Atlantis  than  was  the  primary 
department.  If  the  schools  were  to  adjust  them- 
selves to  the  talents  of  the  children ;  if  the  mis- 
take of  previous  ages  Avas  to  be  avoided,  by 
which  the  expanding  originalities  of  a  child 
were  pressed  into  the  unyeilding  mold  of  a  uni- 
form course  of  study ;  if  the  various  lines  of 
aptitude  were  to  be  respected,  it  became  clear  as 
daylight  that  the  schools  must  vary  in  their  char- 
acters. The  simplest,  most  economic,  and  at  the 
same  time,  the  most  adequate  arrangement  was 
found  in  the  establishment  of  provincial  schools 
for  an  intermediary  course  of  study.  The  nur- 
sery was  strictly  a  local  concern  ;  the  primary 
school  was   a   city   institution ;    the    intermedi- 


YOUNG  WEST.  71 


aries  weru  spread  over  a  whole  province  and  the 
high  schools  were  scattered  all  over  the  land. 
The  primaries  were  recruited  from  the  nurse- 
ries, the  intermediaries  drew  from  the  prima- 
ries, with  the  slight  difference  that  the  prima- 
ries received  their  pupils  from  specified  districts, 
while  the  intermediaries  were  filled,  not  accord- 
ing to  geographical  lines  but  in  accord  with  the 
particular  talents  of  the  children.  The  ones, 
who,  like  my  first  mentor,  Milton  Green,  showed 
tastes  for  literary  pursuits,  were  sent  to  an 
intermediary  school  where  these  talents  were 
predominately  developed,  while  my  friend  I>ol), 
who  seemed  to  care  only  for  work  that  brought 
into  play  his  muscular  strength,  had  been  assign- 
ed to  one  in  which  such  gifts  were  turned  into 
proper  channels  of  usefulness ;  the  preponder- 
ance of  logic  that  expressed  itself  in  love  for 
matheinathical  studies  was  taken  care  of  in 
another  school,  and  so  were  schools  established 
in  which  aptitudes  like  mine  were  carefully  and 
exceptionally  treated. 

Such  rational  divisions  and  subdivisions  had 
become  possible  since  the  nation  bad  under- 
taken the  education  of  its  future  citizens.  Only 
on  such  a  laige  scale  could  useful  distinctions  be 
made.  These  intermediaries,  though  recruited 
from  all  parts   of   a   province    with    regard    to 


72  YOUKG  WEST. 


talents  of  the  children,  were  not,  what  in  medi- 
leval  times,  would  have  been  called  trade 
schools.  They  did  not  ignore  the  necessity  of 
developing  also  faculties  of  a  secondary  or 
tertiary  predominance.  The  one  who  inclined 
(toward  brain  work,  was  not  excused  entirely 
from  muscular  work,  neither  was  the  one  who 
preferred  the  latter,  permitted  to  neglect  the 
culture  of  his  mind.  The  schools  of  this  order 
differed  only  in  so  far  from  one  another,  that 
better  opportunities  were  given  for  the  broaden- 
ing of  these  particular  talents. 

The  best  educators  are  not  infallible  and  thus 
it  was  expected  that  oace  in  a  while  children 
would  be  misjudged.  Teachers  would  some- 
times be  misled  by  appearances  and  assume  that 
a  pupil  showed  a  certain  talent,  where  in  fact 
there  was  but  a  semblance  of  it ;  moreover,  as 
children  grow  older,  their  predilections  some- 
times change.  Faculties  will  suddenly  show 
themselves  at  the  age  of  twelve  that  had  never 
been  noticed  before.  The  intermediary  schools 
corrected  such  mistakes  and  pupils  could  be 
transferred  with  ease  from  one  of  them  to  the 
other.  This  elastic  system  resulted  in  finally 
placing  every  child  into  his  or  her  proper  sphere, 
so  that,  when  they  entered  the  high  school,  at  the 
age   of    fourteen,    no    further    changes    became 


YOUNG  WEST.  73 

necessary  aiul  the  school  authorities  could  feel 
reasonably  assured  that  the  imlividuality  of 
every  child  had  been  respected. 

The  greater  distance  of  the  school  to  which.  I 
had  been  promoted  from  the  city,  made  trips  to 
Atlantis  more  expensive.  Permits  for  such 
visits  were,  therefore,  given  only  four  times  a 
year  or  on  exceptional  occasions.  None  of  usi 
however,  seemed  to  care.  Instead,  we  made 
fiequent  excursions  to  other  cities  under  the 
supervision  of  our  teachers,  and  new  friends 
consoled  us  in  a  very  short  time  for  the  loss  of 
I'ormer  acquaintances. 

Only  a  small  number  of  bo3''S  and  girls  had 
been  promoted  witli  me  at  the  same  time  to  the 
new  school.  I  did  not  find  many  whom  I  had 
known  in  our  primary  school.  Of  my  nursery 
friends,  I  recognized  only  two  or  three. 

This  process  of  constant  sifting  and  replac- 
ing, of  scattering  us  all  about,  did  not  of  course, 
permit  the  formation  of  lasting  alliances.  But, 
what  of  it?  Our  interests  did  not  clash  with 
one  another's  and  why  should  we  not  feel  affec- 
tion for  classmates  even  after  one  day's  aquaint- 
ance?  As  our  experiences  were  identically 
the  same,  it  took  us  but  a  very  short  time  to 
come  to  a  full  understanding  with  a  new  com- 
panion. 


74  YOUNG  WEST. 

This  constant  meeting  with  different  persons 
had  even  its  advantages;  the  feeling  of  shyness 
and  distrust  vanished,  which  in  previous  ages 
had  made  the  expression  and  the  extension  of 
good  will  toward  a  stranger,  impossible. 

On  my  first  visit  to  the  city  and  to  the 
primary  school  which  I  had  just  left,  I  experi- 
enced the  selfsame  feeling  of  disappointment 
that  had  crept  over  me  when  I  paid  my  first 
visit  to  the  nursery.  Within  a  few  wrecks,  I 
had  outgrown  these  circles  and  Mr.  Groce,  the 
chief  gardener,  impressed  me  no  longer  with 
the  same  admiiation  with  which  I  used  to  look 
up  to  him.  My  visits  ceased,  therefore,  after 
a  while. 

Our  school  building  was  modelled  after  the 
plan  of  our  primary  school  but  it  was  larger  in 
its  dimensions.  Instead  of  three  stories,  each 
wing  was  seven  stories  high,  to  meet  require- 
ments. Both  the  system  and  the  discipline  were 
similar  to  that  of  the  primary  department. 
The  boys  of  the  senior  class  acted  as  officers, 
each  supervising  five  pupils  of  the  three  lower 
classes.  This  left  a  number  of  them  unem- 
ployed and  out  of  these  were  chosen  commis- 
sioned officers,  each  in  charge  of  five  squads. 
At  the  head  of  each  company,  stood  a  special 
officer  and  another  at  the  head  of  each  battal- 


YOUNG  WEST.  75 

ion,  which  numbered  when  in  full  strength, 
125,  including  himself.  Each  officer  reported 
to  his  superior  and  the  chief  of  a  battalion,  to 
one  of  the  teachers.  The  same  arrangement 
held  good  also  for  the  girls  who  took  their 
meals  and  lessons  jointly  with  the  boys. 

They  learned  to  handle  hammer  and  chisel  as 
well  as  the  boys,  while  we  learned  how  to 
thread  and  use  a  needle  or  how  to  set  a  table 
as  well  as  the  girls.  Only  their  dormitories 
were  situated  in  a  different  wing  of  the  build- 
ing and  stood  under  the  sole  control  of  women. 
The  girls  also  had  a  natatorium  of  their  own, 
which,  however,  did  not  prevent  them  from  tak- 
ing occasionally  a  swim  with  the  boys  in  a 
lake  near  tlie  school. 

The  mode  of  instruction  was  also  similar  to 
that  of  the  primary  school.  Lessons  were  im- 
parted directly  through  the  teacher  and  not  by 
means  of  text  books.  Teacher  and  class 
worked  together  ;  the  teacher  showing  how  to 
master  a  certain  fact  by  observation.  In  the 
study  of  geography  our  memory  was  not 
crammed  with  a  thousand  names  of  cities, 
mountains,  rivers  or  lakes  that  existed  some- 
where in  the  interior  of  Africa,  but,  instead,  we 
learned,  how  to  find  our  way  to  any  given  place 
in  the    neighborhood    by  using    maps.       Every 


76  YOUN'O  WEST. 

one  of  us  was  able  to  draw  a  map  of  his  sur- 
roundings at  sight,  which  containing  a  clear 
description  of  the  situation,  could  be  read  with 
ease  by  the  rest  of  us.  When  an  excursion  on 
foot  or  on  bicycles  was  planned,  the  map  of  the 
territory  to  be  visited  was  studied  beforehand ; 
each  of  the  excursionists  made  a  general  sketch 
of  it  for  his  own  use  and  though  we  left  the 
school  in  various  groups  of  not  more  than 
thirty,  there  was  no  fear  that  we  would  ever 
fail  to  meet  at  a  given  point.  On  our  way,  we 
verified  our  maps,  and  when  dismissed,  we 
found  our  way  home  without  the  aid  of  our 
teachers.  These  excursions  extended  some- 
times over  a  circle  of  one  hundred  miles  in 
diameter  and  lasted  from  five  to  ten  days. 

Neither  was  our  memory  overloaded  with 
names  of  animals,  stones,  and  plants,  or  with 
anecdotes,  more  or  less  true,  describing  their 
characteristics.  We  simply  learned  how  to 
observe  every  object  and  how  to  note  its  quali- 
ties. A  flower  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a 
pupil  and  he  would  at  once  notice  its  similarity 
with  or  difference  from  other  plants  and  de- 
scribe them  in  every  detail. 

We  never  returned  from  our  excui'sions  empty- 
handed  ;  we  always  brought  some  object  that 
excited  our  curiosity,  and  about  which  we  de- 


TOUNG  WEST.  77 


sired  further  information.  If  a  clear  distinction 
l)(  tween  our  system  of  teaching  and  that  of  pre- 
vious ages  is  to  be  given  in  a  few  words,  it 
could  be  formulated  into  the  following  sentence  : 
Heretofore,  the  teacher  questioned  the  pupil, 
now  the  pupil  questioned  the  teacher.  All 
reasonable  questions  were  answered.  Either  the 
explanation  was  given  in  a  straightforward 
manner  or  ways  and  means  were  outlined  by 
which  the  pupil  could  go  to  work  to  find  out 
for  himself.  Foolish  questions  received  no 
reply,  and  as  this  was  a  rebuke,  they  rarely 
occurred. 

We  had  learned  how  to  read  and  write,  but 
while  we  were  utilizing  these  acquisitions,  we 
were  now  taught  also  a  system  of  writing  by 
which  we  could  note  down  sentences  as  rapidly 
as  they  were  spoken.  We  also  practiced  writ- 
ing by  machine.  This  latter  knowledge  proved 
to  be  of  great  usefulness  because  all  our  tele- 
graphs were  manipulated  by  similar  keyboards 
and  all  official  communications  were  sent  by 
telegraph. 

The  English  language  had  so  far  been  the 
only  language  which  we  had  studied.  We 
learned  how  to  use  it  properly  and  arti.stieally 
but  in  the  int<u-mediary  school,  we  were  now 
taught  a  new  language  —  Volapiik  —  by  means 


78  YOUNG  WEST. 


I  of  which  we  became  enabled  to  interchange 
thoughts  with  the  various  nations  on  earth. 

Living  languages  are  constantly  changing 
and  even  the  same  language  is  used  differently 
by  people  of  various  provices  ;  it  was,  therefore^ 
thought  best  that  every  nation  should  preserve 
its  own  idiom,  although  the  rapidity  of  locomo- 
tion had  made  them  almost  next  door  neighbors. 
It  would  have  been  a  waste  of  time,  and  an 
unbearable  tax  on  the  memory,  if  a  person 
should  have  been  obliged  to  study  half  a  dozen 
or  more  languages.  Pupils  studied,  therefore, 
simultaneously  with  their  own  native  dialect, 
<^  the  international  language  —  Volapiik.  Within 
one  year,  we  attained  such  proficiency  in  it, 
that  no  matter  at  what  point  of  the  globe  we 
might  have  been  dropped,  we  would  have  been 
able  to  converse  with  the  inhabitants. 

Our  hands  had  learned  to  use  the  simpler 
tools  while  in  the  primary  school,  now  we  were 
made  acquainted  with  the  principles  of  machinery 
and  learned  how  to  apply  them  to  all  purposes. 
We  were  shown  how  to  divide  labor,  and  how 
by  placing  a  load  upon  the  shoulders  of  the 
many,  it  could  be  carried  with  ease. 

No  work  was  undertaken  merely  on  account 

<of  its  value  as  a  means  of  instruction.     All  that 
we  did,  was  done  for  a  purpose,  for  results,  that 


YOUNG  WEST.  79 

would  benefit  the  community.  The  several 
hundred  acres  of  land  attached  to  every  school, 
were  cultivated  by  its  inmates  ;  the  machine 
shops  turned  out  articles  that  were  in  fact  used 
by  the  pupils.  Only  in  so  far  did  they  differ 
from  the  ordinary  national  factories  that  the 
pupils  changed  off  in  their  various  occupations, 
while  the  woikers  in  the  latter  remained  steadily 
at  one  branch  of  work. 

Even  our  meals  were  prepared  under  proper 
supervision  by  a  delegation  of  boys  and  girls 
who  changed  twice  a  week.  Other  squads  had 
to  serve  at  table,  all  taking  their  turn. 

While  every  one  of  our  studies  was  a  labor 
and  every  labor  served  as  a  study,  we  were 
allowed  an  abundance  of  time  for  recreation. 
We  learned  how  to  save  minutes  and  thus  we 
gained  hours  of  leisure,  which  we  could  apply  to 
sports  of  all  kinds.  Time  never  dragged  ;  we 
never  felt  bored;  neither  did  we  ever  suffer 
from  mental  or  physical  exhaustion. 

We  enjoyed  the  best  of  health.  Our  hospital 
attended  to  but  few  temporary  inmates ;  the 
serious  cases  were  despatched  to  the  city  hospi- 
tals, and  accidents  were  of  rare  occurrence. 
Our  machines  were  constructed  with  such  care 
and  foresight  that  usually  it  was  only  through 


80  YOUNG  WEST. 


culpable  negligence  that  a  person  could  possibly 
get  hurt. 

The  superintendent  of  each  school  was  held 
responsible  for  the  general  health  of  his  school. 
If  his  report  showed  a  larger  number  of  cases  of 
sickness  than  was  normal,  an  investigation  was 
at  once  ordered,  and  if  it  was  found  that  by 
better  care  on  his  part,  they  could  have  been 
prevented,  he  was  at  once  discharged  from  his 
office  and  assigned  to  another  position  where  his 
responsibilities  did  not  demand  capacity  of  so 
high  an  order. 

Our  schools  were  the  cynosure  of  all  citizens  ; 
they  were  jealously  watched  over  by  all  because 
the  future  welfare  of  the  commonwealth  de- 
pended upon  them. 

At  the  time  when  my  father  was  a  schoolboy, 
I  learn  from  his  memoirs  —  each  pair  of  parents 
interested  themselves  only  in  the  welfare  of 
their  own  children  ;  as  long  as  they  were  well 
taken  cu:e  of,  they  took  little  concern  in  the 
well-being  of  the  rest,  or  if  they  did,  in  so 
far  only  as  it  stood  in  relation  to  their  own 
children  and  was  likely  to  influence  them. 

I  offered  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  fact 
that  parents  can  never  be  trusted  to  discern  the 
true  faculties  and  the  talents  of  their  children, 
and  that  only  the  eye  of  a  talented  and  at  the 


YOUNG  WEST.  81 


same  time,  unprejudiced  educator  is  able  to 
judge  the  innermost  nature  of  a  child  and  to 
direct  his  yearnings  into  proper  channels. 

My  mother,  as  well  as  my  grandfather, 
seemed  to  be,  if  not  disappointed  (for  that  they 
were  too  reasonable)  at  least  surprised  at  my 
preferences.  Dr.  Leete  had  expected  that  I 
would  either  take  to  literary  pursuits  or 
develop  executive  ability  for  practical  business  ; 
my  mother  had  been  sure  that  I  would  show 
abilities  to  fit  me  for  a  nurse  or  a  physician. 
If  I  had  been  brought  up  under  their  special 
care,  as  was  my  father  by  his  parents,  they 
would,  undoubtedly,  have  exercised  an  influence 
over  me  with  their  hopes  and  wishes  in  such  a 
manner  that  I,  myself,  would  have  believed 
myself  fit  for  the  occupations  which  they  sug 
gcsted  to  me. 

Mr.  Rogers  had  already  observed  that  my 
talents  were  of  an  entirely  different  nature. 
What  they  would  be,  he  could  not  yet  tell  with 
exactness,  but  that  I  showed  a  liking  for  man- 
ual pursuits,  he  felt  sure. 

Mr.  Pettns  confii-med  his  obsi'rvations ;  the 
older  I  grew,  the  more  I  showed  that  muscular 
exertions  were  more  to  my  taste  than  mental 
occupations.  If  the  mind  was  to  be  called  into 
service,  some    work    of   the    luinds    had    ti>    Ix' 


82  YOUNG  WEST. 


added  to  it,  in  order  to  afford  me  pleasure. 
(^hemistry,  for  instance,  fascinated  me  because 
/  it  gave  employment  to  both  my  mind  and 
\  my  hands.  Still  I  cared  less  for  its  theories 
than  for  its  application  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits. 

Mr.  Gordon,  the  principal  of  the  intermediary 
school,  in  which  T  now  lived,  guided  somewhat 
by  my  records  from  the  nursery  and  the 
primary  school,  noticed  how,  as  I  advanced  in 
years,  these  two  qualities  began  to  blend.  He 
neither  stimulated  this  process  nor  did  he 
impede  it;  he  gave  it  free  play,  allowing  me 
the  employment  I  liked  best  and  excusing  me 
as  far  as  was  permissible  from  studies  which  did 
not  correspond  with  my  tastes. 

Our  teachers  were  lovable  and  I  can  hardly 
I  decide  now  whom  of  them  I  loved  most.  They 
were, —  as  were  all  the  teachers, —  experts  in 
their  special  branch  of  instruction.  It  was, 
therefore,  quite  natural  that  they  should  put 
their  whole  soul  into  their  work  and  thus  weave 
a  spell  around  us  while  we  were  under  their 
influence.  Of  course,  we  felt  greater  attach- 
ment to  the  ones  under  whom  we  studied  than 
to  those  who  taught  parallel  classes,  but  as  we 
frequently  came  in  contact  with  them,  espe- 
cially in  excursions,  we  were  attracted  to  them 


YOUNG  WEIST.  83 


in  proportion  to  our  congeniality  of  tastes  and 
disposition. 

The  relations  that  existed  between  class- 
mates were  cordial.  Some,  it  is  true,  were  moie 
sympathetic  to  one  another  and  antipathies 
were  not  overcome  entirely,  but  while  the  for- 
mation of  clubs  was  encouraged  of  such  as  were 
sympathetic,  antipathies  were  not  allowed  to 
assume  or  to  degenerate  into  hostility.  The 
few,  for  whom  one  cared  less,  were  simply  left  to 
themselves,  and  they  in  their  turn  formed 
alliances  which  were  congenial  to  them.  There 
was  room  for  all  kinds  of  selections.  Aiiionrj 
the  thousand  inmates,  we  could  easily  find  a 
number  of  friends.  Any  instinctive  dislikes  or 
discords  of  temperament  were  weakened  partly 
by  the  fact  that  the  characters  that  did  not 
appeal  to  our  fancy  were  lost  in  the  crowd, 
partly  by  way  of  links.  While  I  might  harbor 
a  feeling  of  antipathy,  — for  which  I  could  give 
no  reason  —  towards  a  certain  boy  or  girl,  a 
sympathetic  friend  of  mine  might  happen  to  bo 
attracted  by  the  very  same  person  that  I  was 
uninterested  in,  or  disliked.  Such  a  mutual 
friend  would  bring  us  nearer  to  each  other  so 
that  our  aversions  were,  at  least,  kept  within 
jiroper  bounds. 

Rivalry  existed.     Why  should  it  not  ?     It  is 


M4  YOUNG  WEST. 

the  spice  of  life.  We  endeavored  to  excel  one 
another  in  doing  our  best.  It  was  an  honor  to 
win  in  a  race,  or  in  a  game,  or  to  turn  out  the 
most  perfect  work,  but  our  rivalry  was  built 
upon  the  appreciation  of  merit.  Besides  the 
feeling  of  satisfaction,  of  having  done  his  best, 
or  having  won  the  admiration  of  his  classmates, 
to  which  was  joined  the  appreciation  of  the 
teachers,  the  victor  expected  no  personal  advan- 
tages from  his  victories.  The  defeated  party 
would  always  be  the  first  to  acknowledge  defeat 
and  to  congratulate  the  winner,  while  the  win- 
ner would  acknowledge  in  turn,  the  merits  of 
his  vanquished  opponent.  Thus  the  sting  of 
defeat  was  robbed  of  any  bitterness  or  poison. 
Neither  were  the  strong  ever  pitted  against  the 
weak;  and  to  show  exultation  because  they 
were  stronger  or  more  clever  by  nature  than 
others,  would  have  been  bad  form.  If  nature 
had  given  to  any  one  a  superiority  over  others 
in  a  certain  branch,  such  superiority  was  to  be 
applied  to  help  the  weaker  brother.  If  I  could 
swim  better  than  another,  it  was  my  duty  as 
well  as  my  privilege  to  watch  over  him,  while 
we  were  bathing,  so  that  no  mishap  should 
occur  to  him.  If  he  could  stand  the  strain  of 
handling  his  shovel  for  a  longer  time  than  I,  it 
became  his  duty  as  well  as  his  privilege  to  help 


YOUNG  WKST.  85 

lue  finish  my  task.  Nature  does  not  create 
men  e(j[ual,  but  man  can  lift  himself  by  his  in- 
tellect above  nature,  mend  her  shortcomings 
and  divide  the  common  burden  so  that  it  will 
not  rest  with  its  whole  weight  upon  the  shoul- 
<lers  that  are  the  least  capable  of  carrying  it. 

Occasionally,  delegations  from  our  .school 
would  visit  other  intermediary  and  primary 
schools,  while  we  would  receive  guests  from 
schools  equal  to  ours  in  rank  and  from  high 
schools ;  such  visiting  and  reception  days  were 
red  letter  days,  both  for  the  visiting  party  and 
the  school  that  was  visited.  Our  guests  would 
give  us  an  exhibition  of  their  skill  in  the  large 
hall,  and  we  would  show  them  our  school  and  its 
environments. 

Inasmuch  as  each  of  our  schools  represented 
by  their  very  nature  a  different  course  of 
instruction,  and  in  their  pupils  a  different  class 
of  faculties,  we  could  not  measure  our  attain- 
ments by  a  common  standard.  Our  guests, 
therefore,  seemed  to  know  many  things  of 
which  we  were  ignorant,  and  again  they  were 
often  found  lacking  in  branches  of  knowledge  in 
which  we  showed  proficiency.  As  they  ap- 
peared to  us,  so  we  appeared  to  them,  but  this 
very  difference  destroyed  in  us  every  feeling  of 
hostility  into  which  rivalry  between  schools  so 


8G  YOUNG  WEST. 

easily  degenerated  in  my  father's  time.  We 
admired  the  talents  of  our  visitors  without 
deprecating  our  own. 

Visitors  from  a  neighboring  school  delighted 
us  one  evening  with  a  dramatic  performance ; 
at  another  occasion,  our  guests  would  surprise 
us  with  the  lightning  rapidity  with  which  they 
solved  arithmetical  problems.  We,  in  return, 
were  admired  by  them  when  we  remodelled 
their  garden-beds  or  handled  a  new  machine. 
On  one  of  our  visits  to  a  neighboring  school,  our 
squad  built  for  them  a  fountain,  biinging  the 
water  in  drainpipes  from  quite  a  distance.  To 
accomplish  the  task,  we  stayed  with  them  for  a 
whole  week  and  the  admiration  of  our  specta- 
tors amply  repaid  us  for  our  exertions. 

When  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  year,  I 
was  promoted  into  the  senior  class,  I  was  unani- 
mously chosen  by  my  young  friends  to  com- 
mand a  battalion.  The  teachers  ratified  the 
election  and  a  strip  of  gold  braid  was  sewn 
around  the  collar  and  the  sleeves  of  my  gray 
uniform.  I  had  earned  this  distinction  partly 
because  I  was  always  found  ready  to  compro- 
mise, partly  because  I  was  quick  in  action. 
When  the  result  of  the  election  was  announced, 
three    cheers   were    given    for  "  Young   West," 


YOUNG  WEST.  87 


which  was  anotlier  token  of  love  whicli  ray 
classmati^s  had  for  me. 

Tlie  honor  was,  of  course,  coupled  with 
responsibilities:  I  had  to  hold  all  the  subaltern 
officers  under  my  charge  to.  their  duties,  whi(;h 
meant  that  I  had  to  aid  them  whenever  I  found 
they  were  not  able  to  do  their  part  of  the  work 
satisfactorily. 

About  that  time,  something  happened  which 
opened  a  world  of  new  thoughts  to  me.  Tt)  be 
understood,  I  must  give  a  detailed  account  of 
the  occurrence. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

One  morning,  after  breakfast,  when,  as  chief 
of  my  battalion,  I  reported  to  one  of  the  teach- 
ers the  occurrences  of  yesterday,  I  received 
orders  to  present  myself  at  the  office. 

Mr.  Gordon  handed  to  me  a  despatch  from  my 
mother  which  bade  me  come  to  the  city  without 
delay.  Grandfather  Leete  had  been  removed 
by  death.  He  had  suddenly  expired  without 
pain  or  sickness;  the  cord  of  his  life  having 
been  quietly  snapped  at  the  end  of  seventy-five 
years.  The  cremation  of  his  body  was  to  take 
place  the  following  day. 

I    received    leave  of    absence   for  three    days 


SS  YOimCr  WEST. 


with  papers  that  covered  my  comfortable  sup- 
port during  the  time. 

On  my  bicycle,  I  reached  the  next  tuunel 
station,  changed  cars  at  *  *  *  and  an  hour 
later,  I  arrived  at  Atlantis.  I  hastened  to  my 
mother's  residence. 

At  my  mother's  I  met  her  husband  and  my 
sister  Edith,  a  girl  of  eight,  who  had  been 
called  from  school  as  I  had  been.  Another  son 
of  my  mother,  Edward  by  name,  w^as  at  the 
time  in  the  nursery.  I  knew  all  these  relatives 
of  mine  because  I  had  met  them  as  often  as  I 
visited  the  city  in  return  to  calls  which  mother 
as  well  as  grandfather  was  in  the  habit  of  pay- 
ing me  from  time  to  time  at  school.  Durino;  his 
last  visit,  the  latter  seemed  to  have  felt  the 
approach  of  death;  he  brought  me  a  token  by 
which  to  remember  him,  a  portfolio,  containing 
lectures  composed  by  my  father.  They  had 
been  intrusted  to  him  with  instructions  to  place 
them  into  my  hands  when  I  would  be  old 
enough  to  understand  their  rare  character. 
Fearing  that  he  would  pass  away  suddenly,  and 
that  the  book  might  fall  into  the  hands  of 
others,  he  wished  to  make  sure  and  gave  it  to 
me  sooner  than  he  luid  intended. 

Owing  to  the  circumstance  that  my  mother 
had  chosen  an  occupation  that  was  related    to 


YOTTNG  WEST.  89 

his  life's  work,  they  had  always  lived  near  each 
other  and  thus  a  feeling  of  sincere  friendship 
had  sprung  up  between  them.  Dr.  Leete  was 
also  the  father  of  two  sons,  but  they  had  been 
called  away  through  their  choice  of  occupation 
to  distant  parts  of  the  country,  and  although 
they  paid  him  their  respects  by  occasional 
visits,  their  relations  to  him  or  to  my  mother, 
their  sister,  were  less  intimate. 

AVhen  the  news  of  their  father's  death 
reached  them,  they  came  at  once  by  aeroplane 
to  attend  the  cremation  ceremonies.  I  saw 
them  for  the  first  time,  but  they  had  heard  of 
me  and  were  anxious  to  meet '"Young  West." 
The  whole  family  congratulated  me  upon  my 
election  as  head  of  a  battalion,  and  expressed 
the  hope  that  the  gold  braid  which  I  now  so 
proudly  wore,  would  not  remain  the  only  mark 
of  distinction  which  I  would  deserve  and 
receive. 

One  of  my  uncles  was  an  expert  mathe- 
matician. He  was  employed  in  the  capital  as 
accountant.  The  other  was  an  electrician  and 
superintended  one  of  the  large  ocean  turbines 
in  Rio  Janeiro.  Turned  by  the  ebb  and  tide  of 
the  ocean,  his  turbine  produced  all  the  electricity 
that  was  needed  in  that  district.  They  ques- 
tioned me    about   mv  school  ntfairs  and    found 


90  YOUNG  WEHT. 

that  since  their  days,  many  improvements  had 
been  inaugurated.  They  described  to  me  scenes 
of  their  school  life.  None  of  them  had  ever 
been  a  commissioned  officer;  they  had  worn  the 
silver  cord  but  never  the  gold  braid. 

jMy  uncles  had  been  in  Atlantis  about  fifteen 
years  ago,  at  the  occasion  of  my  father's  fune- 
ral. They  stated  frankly  that  they  had  then 
come  only  to  gratify  their  curiosity.  My  father 
had  been  a  stranger  to  them,  but  the}'^  had  read 
so  much  about  him  that  they  desired  to  verify 
the  accounts  by  direct  inquiiies.  I  listened 
with  great  interest  to  all  they  said,  especially 
when  they  explained  to  me  the  kind  of  work  in 
which  they  were  employed. 

The  hour  for  the  ceremonies  was  set  at  10 
o'clock  the  next  morning,  and  at  the  appointed 
time,  we  took  a  conveyance  to  the  central  crema- 
tory, where  the  obsequies  were  to  take  place.*  It 
was  situated  on  Beacon  Hill,  on  the  same  spot 
upon  which  at  my  father's  time,  the  govern- 
ment building,  called  the  State  House,  stood; 
the  two  others  were  placed  at  the  extreme  ends 
of  the  city.  I  had  frequently  passed  them  but 
I  had  never  been  inside  of  either  of  them. 

The  central  crematory  was  considered  one  of 
the  finest  in  the  land.  It  was  not  built  like  the 
rest   of   the   buildings  of   glass,  its  walls  were 


YOUNG  WEST.  91 


made  of  what  we  call  stone-pudding,  a  mixture 
of  cement  and  sand.  While  in  a  soft  condition, 
this  material  can  be  pressed  into  wooden  molds. 
After  a  few  days  it  hardens  and  its  durability 
increases  with  age.  4, 

A  flight  of  stairs,  ornamented  with  appro- 
priate statuary,  led  to  a  gallery,  supporting  a 
glass  roof  upon  daintily  molded  columns.  P>om 
this  gallery,  a  number  of  doors  led  into  the 
interior,  a  large  hall,  which  received  its  light 
partly  from  above  through  a  huge  cupola  of 
glass,  partly  from  clusters  of  electrical  lamps. 
Seats,  rising  in  amphitheatrical  form,  sur- 
rounded a  platform  of  lacquered  aluminum  upon 
which  stood  on  a  trap  door,  a  casket  made  of 
asbestos.  A  neat  chancel  arose  in  the  rear,  to 
which  the  speakers  ascended  upon  winding 
stairs. 

The  casket  contained  at  this  hour  tlie  body 
of  Dr.  Leete.  A  wreath  of  laurel  rested  upon 
the  half  opened  lid.  Crossing  the  platform  to 
the  seats  which  were  reserved  for  relatives  and 
the  most  intimate  friends,  we  cast  a  last  glance 
upon  his  well  known  features.  His  eyes  were 
closed  as  in  sleep. 

He  had  worn  the  blue  ribbon,  therefore,  the 
heads  of  every  governmental  department,  dom- 
iciled  in  Atlantis,  had    been  convened.     They 


92  YOUNG  WEST. 


filled  a  whole  section  of  the  hall.  The  medical 
fniild  had  turned  out  in  full  force  and  occupied 
another  section ;  the  guild  of  hospital  nurses 
was  represented  by  a  large  delegation  ;  literary 
clubs  of  which  the  departed  had  been  a  mem- 
ber, had  sent  their  representatives ;  people, 
who  had  been  cured  by  his  medical  skill,  showed 
their  gatitude  by  their  attendance. 

Two  hours  are  granted  to  each  funeral  party 
and  as  it  takes  almost  fifteen  minutes  to  reduce 
the  body  to  ashes,  and  fifteen  minutes  are  usu- 
ally spent  in  preliminary  arrangements,  such  as 
the  seating  of  guests,  etc.,  the  exercises  cannot  be 
extended  beyond  the  limit  of  one  hour  and  a  half. 
An  orchestra,  hidden  from  sight,  now  began 
to  play  a  dirge,  after  which,  a  member  of  the 
government,  also  a  wearer  of  the  blue  ribbon, 
ascended  the  pulpit. 

In  eloquent  words,  he  extolled  the  merits  of 
the  departed  and  expressed  the  gratitude  which 
the  world  owed  him  for  the  valuable  services 
rendered. 

>  Other  speakers  succeeded  him  ;  one  described 
Dr.  Leete's  career  both  as  a  citizen  and  physi- 
cian, another  spoke  of  his  lovable  character  and 
how  he  had  cured  people  and  removed  suiTering, 
almost  as  often  by  his  cheerful  presence  at  the 
bedside  of  a  patient  as  by  specifics. 


YOU^'G  Ml^ST.  03 

Tlie  last  orator,  speaking  of  the  future,  refer- 
red to  the  various  beliefs  that  people  harbored 
in  regard  to  personal  continuity. 

"  Death,"  said  he,  '■  is  as  much  a  mystery  to 
us  in  our  day  as  it  has  always  been  to  mankin(L 
If  matter  is  indeed  indestructible,  how  can  the 
forces  which  permeate  it,  cease  to  be  ?  In  fact, 
matter  cannot  exist  witliout  mind,  nor  mind 
without  matter,  they  are  one,  but  whether  the 
same  atoms  which  compose  a  certain  body,  or 
the  same  forces  which  dwell  therein  as  mind, 
will  continne  in  their  combinations ;  whether 
their  number  will  increase  or  decrease,  or  in 
other  words,  whether  we  will  remain  personali- 
ties, no  matter  in  what  form,  we  do  not  know 
and  never  will.  To  deny  a  pei'sonal  existence 
/after  death,  is  as  presumptuous  on  our  part  as 
'  to  afhrm  it." 

'•If  there  are  some  who  lead  a  noble  life, 
inspired  by  the  belief  that  it  is  preparatory  to  a 
new  state  of  existence,  why  should  we  rob  them 
of  their  hap])iness  by  demanding  a  proof  for 
their  assertion,  which  they  can  never  give?  If 
there  arc  others  who  feel  satisfaction  in  the 
thought  that  death  is  the  end  of  individual,  or 
personal  activity  ;  that  the  atoms  will  disband 
in  order  to  form  new  creations,  or  that  the 
forces    that    inhabit    them    as    mind,   will    now 


94  YOUNG  WEST. 

enter  into  other  forms  to  do  similar  service,  wliy 
shall  we  demand  of  them  to  accept  theories  of 
personal  continuity  for  which  they  find  no  room 
in  their  reason  ?  " 

"  Neither  the  past  nor  the  future  must  concern 
us,  it  is  the  present  for  which  wo  must  have  a 
care.  If  a  personal  state  of  existence  does 
await  us  after  death,  so  much  more  pleasant 
will  be  our  disappointment.  We  will  then 
accommodate  ourselves  to  the  new  conditions, 
as  we  were  forced  to  place  ourselves  into  proper 
relationship  with  the  conditions  here  on  earth." 

"  To  live  nobly  and  to  enjoy  fully  the  one  life 
of  which  we  know  most,  must  be  our  foremost 
aspiration,  and  by  our  work  to  aid  contempo- 
raries and  co-workers  that  they  may  enjoy 
the  measure  of  time  assigned  to  them,  as  we  do, 
must  be  our  foremost  duty." 

"  Howevei',  as  the  past  has  prepared  for  our 
welfare,  so  must  we  prepare  for  the  well-being 
of  the  generations  that  are  to  come  after  us. 
As  we  have  profited  by  the  labors  of  our  pro- 
genitors, so  let  our  children  profit  by  ours." 

"  Our  departed  friend  has  fully  understood 
his  duties  and  he  has  worked  in  accordance 
w^ith  such  undeistanding.  Ilis  studies  were 
ever  devoted  to  researches  how  to  remove  pain 
and  how  to  prolong  life   to  its    utmost   limits. 


YOUNG  WEST.  95 


He  has  conquered  a  disease  which  had  baffled 
the  skill  of  the  most  learned  medical  men, 
Tlie  results  of  his  studies  will  live,  therefore,  to 
the  end  of  time.  Thousands  of  sufferers  will 
praise  him,  and  thank  him  for  the  years  of  life, 
which  through  his  discovery,  have  been  added 
to  theirs.  His  name  will  be  mentioned  with 
reverence  and  gratitude  by  our  remote  descend- 
ants, when  ours  will  be  long  forgotten.  Such  is 
immortality  indeed ! " 

By  some  invisible  mechanism,  the  casket 
slowly  sank  from  sight.  The  trap  door 
through  which  it  had  disappeared,  closed  noise- 
lessly. The  music  died  away  in  a  plaintive 
Adagio,  executed  by  a  few  string  instruments. 

About  fifteen  minutes  passed  when  the  folding 
doors  opened  and  an  urn,  containing  the  ashes 
of  Dr.  Leete,  appeared  upon  the  platform.* 

The  leaves  of  the  laurel  wreath  that  had 
decorated  the  casket  were  now  distributed 
among  the  nearest  relatives  of  the  departed.  I 
received  one  and  afterwards  placed  it  in  the 
portfolio  which  Dr.  Leete  had  given  to  me. 

That  night,  I  was  unable  to  sleep.  Whether 
the  imposing  ceremonies  of  the  cremation  had 
excited  me  ;  or  whether  every  piece  of  furniture 

•All  urns  are  deposited  in  the  city  maufloleniu,  one  of  the  rtii- 
eat  structures  in  the  land. 


YOUNG  WEST. 


in  the  room  brought  back  to  my  memory  the 
kindness  ^Yhich  my  grandfather  had  always 
shown  me.  I  cannot  tell.  My  thoughts  wan- 
dered from  one  subject  to  another. 

What  was  death  ?  I  had  frequently  observed 
the  cessation  of  life  in  plants  and  animals;  I 
had  seen  flowers  fade  and  wither;  I  had  found 
birds  lifeless  in  their  cages ;  I  had  seen  chickens, 
lambs,  calves,  and  once  a  cow  slaughtered  to 
be  prepared  for  the  table  of  our  teachers,  bnt  I 
had  never  before  seen  the  corpse  of  a  human 
being.  What  did  the  orators  refer  to,  when 
they  spoke  of  a  future  life,  of  immortality,  of 
the  indestructibility  of  matter  and  mind?  I 
began  to  remember  a  number  of  occurrences  to 
which  before  I  had  never  given  a  thought. 

Once,  one  of  my  schoolmates  was  transferred 
from  the  school  to  the  city  hospital.  He  had 
always  been  a  feeble  boy  and  was  troubled 
with  a  painful  cough  ;  we  used  to  lead  him  to 
the  sunniest  places  in  the  garden  and  to  help 
him  in  iiU  his  tasks,  which  he  wished  to  per- 
form, although  the  teachers  had  gladly  excused 
him.  He  went  and  never  returned  to  school. 
We  were  told  that  he  died.  Was  it  painful  to 
die? 

While  wo  woie  swimming  in  the  lake,  one 
(l;<v,  a  little  gni  snddenlv  uttered  a  scream  and 


YOUNG  WEST.  97 


sank  below  the  surface  of  the  water.  By 
instinct,  T  Jived,  cauglit  her,  and  drew  lier  to 
the  shore.  There  slie  hiy  inanimate.  The 
teacher  in  charge  canied  her  to  the  hospital, 
praised  me  for  my  prompt  action  and  said  that 
if  I  had  not  been  so  quick,  she  might  have  died  ; 
now  he  hoped  fo  revive  her.  'Jhe  doctors 
rubbed  her  with  warm  towels,  and  after  a  while 
she  opened  her  eyes.  For  a  day  or  two,  she 
stayed  in  the  hospital,  but  after  that  she  was  as 
well  as  formerly. 

I  asked  her  how  she  felt  when  she  sank  and 
why  she  clung  so  heavily  to  me,  when  I  tried  to 
help  her,  so  that  I  was  almost  dragged  down  by 
her  weight.  She  remembered  only  that  her 
limbs  had  suddenly  grown  stiff  while  swimming; 
more  she  could  not  tell  ;  she  had  experienced 
no  pain,  and  was  rather  astonished  when  she 
found  herself  in  bed. 

Another  schoolmate  of  mine  had  fallen  from 
a  tree  ;  he  had  bruised  his  liead  and  had  sus- 
tained some  internal  injury.  The  blood  oozed 
from  the  wound,  and  we  heaid  him  scream  with 
pain  until  the  doctor  applied  some  medicine 
which  put  him  (o  sleep.  He  had  been  sent 
off  during  the  night  to  the  City  and  he  never 
came  back.     lie,  too,  had  died. 

All    these    recollections    passed    thiough    my 


98  YOUNG  WEST. 


mind.  Why  did  one  die  and  not  the  other? 
That  a  wound  causes  pain,  I  knew,  because  I 
had  been  hurt  several  times,  but  does  it  hurt  a 
great  deal  when  one  dies?  And  another  ques- 
tion troubled  me :  did  grandfather  feel  that  he 
was  burned  to  ashes?  1  was  sure  that  all  his 
good  friends,  who  loved  and  admired  him  so 
much,  would  not  have  caused  him  pain,  yet,  I 
could  not  rid  myself  of  the  thought. 

I  was  glad  when  morning  dawned ;  I  arose 
early  and  walked  up  and  down  the  park. 

Mother  asked  me  after  breakfast  whether  I 
would  care  to  own  some  of  Dr.  Leete's  personal 
property,  perhaps  a  book.  1  cared  not  for  books 
and  the  16  was  no  article  among  his  things,  the 
possession  of  which  would  have  pleased  me. 
She  retained  a  manuscript  of  recipes  which  he 
had  collected,  her  brothers  found  nothing  of 
special  interest  to  take  with  them  and  thus  were 
all  his  private  possessions  delivered  to  the 
nation.  His  valuable  books  were  divided 
among  the  public  libraries ;  his  instruments, 
among  hospitals  ;  useful  pieces  of  furniture  wei'e 
repaired  and  offered  for  sale  ;  such  as  were  use- 
less, were  destroyed. 

After  I  had  seen  my  uncles  depart  by  aero- 
plane to  their  homes,  I  took  leave  of  my  mother 
and  returned  to  my  school. 


YOUNG  WEST.  OO 


I  Loped  to  enjoy  a  good  night's  rest  after  the 
fatigups  of  my  journey,  but  again  I  tossed  about 
and  strange  thoughts  crossed  my  brain. 

I  began  to  wonder  how  all  things  sprung  into 
existence.  I  went  from  the  chicken  to  the  i^g^, 
and  from  the  egg  to  the  chicken,  from  the  oak 
to  the  acorn,  and  from  the  acorn  to  the  oak 
without  even  finding  an  end  to  the  chain. 

I  knew  that  the  sun  would  set  in  the  evening 
and  rise  in  the  morning,  we  had  been  shown 
how  that  happened  through  the  revolutions 
which  the  earth  makes  around  its  axis,  but  why 
does  the  earth  turn  in  that  manner?  What 
force  moves  it  in  prescribed  circles?  Who 
orders  it  to  revolve  and  the  sun  to  stand  still  all 
the  while?  In  a  word,  the  old,  old  questions 
over  which  the  wise  of  all  nations  l^ad  vainly 
pondered,  began  to  disturb  the  peace  of  my 
mind. 

Finally  towards  morning,  I  fell  into  a  dream- 
less sleep  and  for  the  first  time  in  my  life,  I  did 
not  hear  the  music  of  the  orchesti-ion.  My 
neighbor,  observing  that  I  was  still  in  bed,  and 
fast  asleep,  shook  me  by  the  arm.  "  Young 
West,"  said  he,  when  I  stared  at  him  in  sur- 
prise, "what  ails  you?"  I  collected  my 
thoughts,  jumped  out  of  bed  and  hastened  to 
attend  to  my  various  duties. 


100  YOUNG  WEST. 

I  felt  that  I  must  do  something  to  regain  my 
former  state  of  mind  and  it  occurred  to  me  that 
it  might  be  wise  to  draw  one  of  my  classmates 
into  my  confidence,  even  at  the  risk  of  being 
laughed  at  by  him. 

Everett  Brown,  one  of  my  classmates,  was  also 
at  the  head  of  a  battalion,  and  we  were  of  about 
the  same  age.  He  was  perhaps  two  or  three 
months  older  than  I,  but  he  was  almost  a 
head  taller.  Otherwise,  we  were  equal  in  mus- 
cular strength,  in  agility,  and  as  was  the  most 
natural  outcome  of  our  system  of  sifting,  we 
had  the  same  likings  for  manual  labors. 

That  evening,  I  invited  him  to  take  a  walk 
with  me.  We  went  to  the  top  of  a  neighboring 
hill  where  we  seated  ourselves  under  an  elm 
tree.  That  place  was  a  favorite  spot  of  ours  ; 
a  most  beautiful  landscape  spread  before  our 
eyes  and  from  there  we  used  to  watch  the  sun 
setting  behind  the  western  hills. 

"  Evie,"  I  began,  "  don't  laugh  at  rae,  if  I  ask 
a  few  foolish  questions.  Since  I  returned  from 
Atlantis,  serious  thoughts  have  been  troubling 
me.  You  know  that  I  went  to  see  the  cremation 
of  my  grandfather  who  has  just  died  ;  now,  I 
wonder,  is  it  painful  to  die  ?  Can  you  tell 
me  who  created  all  we  see.  Of  course,  a  great 
many  things  are  done  by  us,  but  though  we  may 


YOUNG  WEST.  101 

put  a  seed  into  the  ground,  we  cannot  make 
it  grow.  Who  does  ?  Have  ever  such  thoughts 
upset  your  mind?  " 

Everett  was  a  good  natured  boy,  he  couhl 
climb  a  tree  like  a  squirrel,  he  was  one  of 
the  best  bicycle-riders  in  the  class  ;  he  was  neat 
in  his  appearance,  but  he  was  not  quick  of 
comprehension.  He  stared  at  me  as  if  he  feared 
for  my  sanity.  Then  he  answered  slowl}' :  "No, 
I  never  thought  of  it  nor  can  I  see  that  it  is  any 
of  my  business  or  yours  to  worry  about  such 
matters." 

"  I)ut,"  I  exclaimed,  "I  never  invited  such 
thoughts,  they  came  all  by  themselves  and  they 
M'ill  not  go  unless  I  find  some  solution?" 

Everett  shook  his  head  incredulously;  he 
evidently  had  never  experienced  such  a  sensa- 
tion. However,  he  seemed  to  feel  for  me,  and 
his  gvid  common  sense  suggested  the  only  and 
best  advise  which  he  could  give  me. 

"  Wiiy  do  you  ask  me,"  he  said,  "I  am  not 
older  than  you,  why  do  you  not  ask  one  of 
the  teachers?  Tliere  is  Mr.  (lordon,  the  princi- 
pal, who  ought  to  know,  and  there  is  Mr. 
Brandon,  our  instructor  of  natural  sciences, 
who  could  give  you  the  desired  information." 

"A  happy  idea,"  I  said,  "but  I  am  afraid  luy 


102  YOUNG  WEST. 


questions  are  so  foolish  that  they  will  not 
answer  them." 

"  I  should  not  wonder  but  that  the  same 
thoughts  have  occurred  to  some  of  our  class- 
mates," said  Everett,  "  if  a  number  of  them 
were  to  make  the  inquiry  and  you  would  act  as 
spokesman,  I  feel  assured  that  our  teachers 
would  listen  to  us." 

I  reflected  a  while.  "  Well,"  said  I  finally, 
"ask  the  boys;  let  us  hold  a  meeting  and 
decide  what  would  be  the  best  for  us  to  do." 

To  this  he  agreed.  On  our  way  home,  we 
discussed  the  plan  in  detail  how  to  approach 
our  classmates  and  pacified  by  the  hope  that 
these  troublesome  questions  would  be  answered 
by  one  of  our  teachers,  I  slept  that  night  quietly 
and  awoke  the  next  morning,  refreshed  in  mind 
and  body. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

To  Everett's  gratification  and  to  my  own 
pleasant  surprise,  we  found  that  thei-e  were 
quite  a  number  of  boys  who  were  passing 
through  the  same  crisis.  They  were  not  only 
Avilling,  but  eager  to  obtain  an  answer  to  these 
questions,  which,    in    their    opinion,    were    not 


YOUNG  WEST.  103 

foolish  at  all.  Our  teachers  had  frequently 
told  us  that  we  ought  to  examine  all  subjects 
with  care,  in  order  to  know  all  about  them, 
and  in  difficult  cases  to  ask  their  aid,  which 
they  would  willingly  give.  Some  of  the  boys 
thought  that  in  so  important  a  matter,  we 
should  address  the  principal  of  the  school;  a 
greater  number,  however,  felt  assured  that  Mr. 
Brandon  would  be  ready  to  answer  our  ques- 
tions. This  teacher  had  frequently  accompa- 
nied us  on  our  excursions  and  had  always  been 
so  companionable  that  we  forgot  he  was  one  of 
the  teachers  and  would  talk  to  him  as  we  would 
to  a  classmate.  It  was,  therefore,  voted  to 
approach  Mr.  Brandon.  A  committee  of  three 
was  appointed  to  see  him  and  to  explain  to  him 
the  situation.  Of  course,  I  was  to  serve  as 
spokesman  of  the  committee. 

The  very  next  day,  after  Mr.  Brandon  had 
just  finished  a  lesson  and  our  class  was  about  to 
leave  the  room,  to  permit  the  entrance  of 
another  section,  we  approached  and  in  a  few 
words,  told  him  of  our  errand.  We  had  antici- 
pated he  would  think  our  questions  nonsensical, 
or  advise  us  to  try  and  solve  them  for  ourselves. 
Mr.  Brandon,  however,  smiled  very  pleasantly, 
placed  his  hand  affectionately  upon  my  head 
and   said :     "  I  shall    be  delighted    to  converse 


104  YOUNG  WEST. 

with   you    upon    that   subject;    where    do    you 
propose  to  meet,  and  at  what  time  ?  " 

"  Would  it  please  you  to  meet  us  this  even- 
ing after  supper  under  the  old  elm  tree  upon 
the  hill?" 

"  That's  the  very  spot  and  the  very  hour, 
which  I  would  have  suggested,"  said  he.  "  You 
may  count  upon  my  presence." 

Quite  a  troop  of  us  were  seen  that  evening 
weuding  our  wny  to  the  top  of  the  hill. 

Reserving  the  bench  for  Mr.  Brandon,  we 
stretched  ourselves  upon  the  soft  grass,  but 
he  declined  to  accept  the  seat  of  honor  and 
threw  himself  upon  the  turf  as  if  he  were  one 
of  us.  "  Consider  me,"  said  he,  "  a  comrade 
and  do  not  hesitate  to  express  your  opinions." 

I  stated  again  to  him  my  experiences,  and  by 
some  clever  questioning  on  his  part,  he  found 
that  the  same  thoughts  had  risen  of  late  in  the 
minds  of  other  boys. 

"  To  state  matters  clearly,"  he  said,  "  you 
are  eager  to  know  how  this  universe  in  which 
we  live  has  originated  and  whether  death  will 
end  all.     Am  I  mistaken?" 

We  assured  him  tliat  this  was  exactly  what 
we  wished  to  know. 

He  placed  his  hands  languidly  under  his 
head,  looked  up  into  the  sky,  which,  just  then. 


YOUNG  WEST.  lOo 


was  gilded  with  the  rays  of  the  evening  sun, 
and  began  : 

^•Do  you  remember  the  h^ssons  wliich  I  re- 
cently gave  to  you  on  fishes  and  how  we  ob- 
served on  that  occasion  in  our  aquarium  their 
modes  of  living?  One  of  you,  if  I  remember 
rightly, exclaimed  then:  '  Why,  they  are  acting 
almost  as  if  they  knew  what  they  were  doing!' 
and  we  came  to  the  conclusion  that  small  as 
might  be  their  compass  of  intelligence,  they 
possessed  a  sufficient  amount  of  it  to  understand 
their  surroundings.  Can  you  remember  that 
lesson  and  its  incidents  ?  " 

We  could,  and  some  of  us  began  to  remind  him 
of  the  various  observations  which  we  had  made. 

"Very  well,"  said  he,  "supposing  one  of  the 
fishes, —  let  us  imagine  the  cleverest  fellow 
among  them, —  should  swim  so  near  to  the 
banks  that  he  could  watch  the  birds  fly  through 
the  air,  build  their  nests  and  seek  their  nour- 
ishment, do  you  lliink  that  this  clever  fellow  of 
a  fish  could  understand  why  these  animals  prefer 
the  air  to  the  water  or  why  they  build  nests? 
Let  us  suppose,  moreover,  that  this  fish  had 
seen  ere  this,  birds  of  a  larger  size,  that  liked 
the  water  and  could  swim  thereupon,  would 
even  such  knowlege  make  it  possible  for  him  to 
understand  the  life  of  birds?" 


lOG  YOUNG  WEST. 

We  thought  that  it  was  not  likely. 

"•Would  birds,"  continued  Mr.  Brandon, 
"  understand  the  actions  of  a  fish  or  those  of  a 
four  footed  animal?  or  can  you  tell  me  why  all 
these  animals  cannot  place  themselves  in  one 
another's  position  ? "' 

Various  answers  were  given  but  they  did  not 
quite  hit  the  mark.  Mr.  Brandon  was  obliged 
to  supply  the  answer  to  his  own  question. 

'•'Ihey  will  never  understand  one  another," 
he  explained,  '  because  the  mind  force  pos- 
sessed by  a  fish,  does  not  reach  further  than  to 
supply  the  requirements  of  fish-life,  while  tiie 
mind  force  possessed  by  a  bird  or  a  higher  ani- 
mal, is  limited  and  adapted  to  its  sphere  of  life. 
I  have  endeavored  to  demonstrate  to  you  the 
presence  of  mind  in  all  matter.  There  is  not 
an  atom  of  matter  that  is  not  permeated  by 
mind;  the  manifestations  only  of  mind  will 
differ.  There  is  mind  contained  in  a  grain  of 
sand ;  it  is  mind  which  causes  the  affinity  of 
chemicals;  search  all  over  creation,  examine  all 
its  forces  and  you  will  find  everywhere  this 
close  combination  of  mind  and  matter;  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  the  one  mixed  up  with  a  certain 
amount  of  the  other." 

"If  you  understand  this  proposition,  you  will 
easily   understand  the  next  step  which    I    will 


YOUNG  WEST.  107 


take  with  you.  These  combinations,  of  whicli 
I  have  been  speaking,  most  naturally  include 
their  limitation.  Tlie  quantity  of  mind  given 
to  a  mineral,  is  exactly  the  amount  necessary 
for  all  the  purposes  of  that  mineral's  existence ; 
the  amount  of  mind  given  to  any  animal  or  any 
class  of  animals,  is  the  exact  amount  needed  for 
the  full  existence  of  that  species.  It  reaches  to 
a  certain  point,  but  not  farther." 

"•The  mind  that  inhabits  the  human  being,  is 
of  course  finer  in  quality  and  larger  in  quantity 
than  that  assigned  to  other  beings,  at  least,  we 
do  not  know  of  any  being  that  possesses  the 
same  or  a  larger  amount  of  it;  but  nevertheless, 
it  has  also  its  limits.  We  cannot  expect  its 
compass  to  be  infinite.  You  are  yet  too  inex- 
.perienced  and  too  young  to  understand  me,  were 
I  to  describe  to  you  all  the  manifestations  of  the 
human  mind.  I  can  tell  you  at  present  only 
what  the  limitations  are,  beyond  which  it  can 
reach  as  little  as  the  fish  can  reach  the  sphere 
of  a  higher  class  of  animal." 

"  The  limitation  of  a  man's  mind  is,  that  he 
must  always  move  within  the  circle  of  cause 
and  effect.  Alan  cannot  think  of  anything  that 
is  not  either  the  one  or  the  other.  One  object, 
according  to  his  perception,  stands  in  connection 
with   a    whole  chain  of  other   objects  and   the 


108  YOUNG  W£ST. 

strongest  minds,  such  as  were  developed  in  the 
great  thinkers  of  the  various  ages,  have  not 
been  able  either  to  conceive  something  appear- 
ing within  his  circle  of  observation  without  a 
previous  cause,  or  to  grasp  the  idea  of  nothing- 
ness. There  has  never  lived  a  man  on  earlh 
nor  will  he  ever  live  who  could  think  of  a  time 
when  nothing  existed.  It  is  at  this  very  point 
where  the  human  mind  reaches  its  limits, 
beyond  it,  it  cannot  go." 

"  What  bearing  has  all  this  upon  the  ques- 
tions which  you  desire  me  to  answer?  Can 
you  not  see  that  it  is  the  very  answer  to  your 
inquiry  ?  You  wish  to  know  how  this  marvel- 
ous earth,  with  all  its  manifold  objects,  with 
all  the  forces  that  we  observe  within,  came  into 
existence.  That  question  has  been  asked  ever 
since  man  inhabited  earth,  but  it  never  was 
answered  to  satisfaction,  simply  because  the 
limitation  of  man's  mind  permits  no  answer." 

"  Young  West  has  told  us  that  he  has  tried  to 
reach  the  origin  of  an  oak  by  following  the  tree 
to  the  acoin  and  the  acorn  again  to  the  tree 
that  produced  it,  but  no  matter  for  how  long  a 
time  he  would  follow  the  succession  of  tree  and 
seed  and  of  seed  and  tree,  he  could  never  roach 
the  end.  Why  not?  I  will  show  it  to  you  by 
another  illustration.       You  have  seen  a  tread- 


YOUNG  WEST.  109 


mill  of  wire  attached  to  the  cage  of  a  squirrel. 
The  squirrel  will  creep  into  the  wheel  and  try 
to  climb  upon  the  wires  that  compose  it.  By 
these  attempts,  however,  the  wheel  is  turned 
and  work  as  he  may,  he  always  remains  at  the 
bottom.  Precisely  in  the  same  manner  does 
the  human  mind  endeavor  in  vain  to  overcome 
its  limitations.  Strive  as  we  may,  we  will 
always  remain  in  the  same  position." 

"It  is  necessary  that  you  should  understand 
this  in  order  that  you  may  not  be  misled  by  con- 
jectures. Innumerable  explanations  were  given 
in  former  ages  to  account  for  the  origin  of  all 
things  but  on  closer  examination,  they  all  fell 
to  pieces,  and  mankind  remained  like  the 
squirrel  in  the  treadmill,  in  its  old  position." 

"Some  said,  there  was  a  time  when  nothing 
existed,  excepting  a  power,  which  they  called 
God,  and  that  this  pjwer  by  effort  of  Mis  will, 
created  the  universe.  This  would  be  plausihU^ 
if  only  the  human  mind  were  able  to  imagine 
nothingness,  or  creation  by  will  effort." 

"There  were  others  who  traced  the  origin  of 
the  universe  back  to  one  small  cell,  which, 
through  some  force  that  was  hidden  therein, 
expanded,  until  this  whole  universe,  with  all 
that  it  contains,  was  evolved  therefrom.  Espec- 
ially, in  regard   to  this  earth,  they  would  t(dl  a 


110  YOUNG  WEST. 


long  story,  bow  in  tliu  beginning,  it  was  a  ball 
of  lire  that  had  been  thrown  off  from  the  sun 
and  which  in  course  of  time,  passing  through 
various  conditions,  had  been  formed  into  what  it 
is  at  present." 

"  All  such  theories  are  satisfactory  for  the 
moment,  but,  when  you  begin  to  think  you 
find  that  the  question  is  not  answered  at  all  by 
them ;  it  stubbornly  stays.  We  will  still  ask  : 
What  was  the  cause  of  the  first  cell?  Or  who 
created  the  very  cause  that  people  were  accus- 
tomed to  call  God  ?  Add  to  this  the  inability 
of  the  mind  to  think  of  a  time  in  which  there 
was  absolutely  nothing  and  you  will  see  how 
inadequate  even  the  best  of  these  explanations 
are  to  solve  the  problem." 

"  With  our  minds  constituted  as  they  are, 
hemmed  in  by  the  circle  of  cause  and  effect, 
we  will  remain  forever  incapable  of  grasping 
the  origin  of  creation." 

We  had  followed  Mr.  Brandon,  but  he  must 
have  observed  by  our  faces  that  we  were  dis- 
appointed. Indeed,  we  had  expected  that  he 
would  know  all  about  the  origin  of  things,  that 
he  could  make  it  plausible  to  us;  now,  he  not 
only  declared  that  he,  himself,  knew  nothing 
about  it,  but  that  others  knew  no  more,  yea,  that 
this  mystery  could  never  be  solved  to  satisfaction. 


YOUNG  WEST.  Ill 


After  a  pause,  he  continued :  "  Therefore,  why, 
after  all,  should  we  trouble  our  minds  in  regard 
to  a  past  that  lies  so  far  behind  us.  It  is 
neither  the  past  nor  the  future  that  should 
give  us  concern,  it  is  the  present.  Here  is  this 
beautiful  world,  here  is  the  span  of  life,  granted 
to  us  to  enjoy,  and  here  is  the  work  by  which 
to  make  this  life  pleasant  for  ourselves  and 
others.  Would  the  fish  not  be  foolish  were  he 
to  leave  the  elements  for  which  he  is  adapted, 
to  try  the  life  of  a  bird?  Would  he  not  destroy 
his  happiness  by  constantly  yearning  to  be 
something  else  than  a  fish  ?  Thus  it  would  be 
useless  for  us  to  try  to  reach  beyond  the  lines 
that  are  set  as  limits  to  our  mind  force.  We 
must  accept  conditions  as  we  find  them  and 
make  the  best  of  them.  Supposing  we  were 
shipwrecked  and  thrown  upon  an  island  in 
mid-ocean  to  which  never  a  ship  is  expected  to 
come,  would  it  not  be  foolish  on  our  part  to 
brood  forever  over  the  past  or  to  live  in  expec- 
tations that  never  can  be  realized?  Would 
it  not  be  wiser  to  explore  the  island,  to  see 
what  resources  it  had,  and  to  make  our  abode 
on  it  as  pleasant  as  possible?  Mankind  has 
advanced  quite  far  during  the  years  in  which  it 
has  inhabited  this  globe  but  it  has  not  dis- 
covered all.     We  know  but  very  little  of  all  the 


112  YOUNG  WEST. 

forces  that  can  be  utilized  to  make  our  abode  o\ 
earth  easier  and  pleasant.  Enough  remains  for 
us  to  find  out,  and  seeking  to  increase  the  stores 
of  knowledge  by  the  observation  of  our  sur- 
roundings is  a  more  promising  work  and  offers 
greater  satisfaction  than  dreaming  or  conjectur- 
ing about  the  possible  or  probable  causes  that 
brought  this  earth  into  existence,  especially, 
when  we  consider  that  the  limitation  of  our 
mind  does  not  allow  us  to  conceive  any  cause  as 
a  "  first "  cause.  "  Think  of  the  present,  boys," 
said  our  teacher,  rising  to  his  feet,  "  and  not  of 
the  past." 

We  all  rose  and  while  going  down  the  hill,  he 
proposed  to  meet  us  the  next  evening  at  the 
same  place,  provided  we  wished  him  to  answer 
my  second  question. 

I  think,  I  have  before  stated,  that  the  boys 
and  girls  of  our  school  had  been  sent  there 
on  account  of  the  preference  which  they  had 
shown  for  practical  work  rather  than  for  mental 
labors.  Abstract  thinking  was  not  a  strong 
point  with  them.  Those  who  had  shown  bril- 
liancy of  mind  in  the  primary  school,  had  been 
transferred  to  institutions  where  those  talents 
were  to  be  developed.  In  later  years,  I  dis- 
covered that  the  same  topic  which  Mr.  Brandon 
had  discussed    with  us    on    the  previous  night, 


YOUNG  WEST.  113 


was  treated  more  thoroughly  to  the  great  delight 
of  the  pupils,  and  with  much  better  effect  in 
other  intermediary  schools,  particularly,  in  the 
ones  in  which  literature,  history,  or  oratory, 
were  the  principal  features  of  instruction. 

We  were  a  good  natured  set  of  boys  and  girls  ; 
we  delighted  iu  physical  sports  of  all  kinds; 
to  exercise  our  muscles  or  whatever  brain  forces 
we  possessed,  iu  some  useful  work,  gave  us  pleas- 
ure. There  were  few  of  us  who  would  read 
other  books  than  such  that  contained  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  the  best  methods,  how  to 
execute  various  kinds  of  work.  Visitors  would 
find  us  employed  during  our  leisure  hours  either 
iu  games,  that  required  physical  skill  or  in  some 
work  from  which  we  derived  pleasure.  We 
would  carve  models  of  ships  or  construct  houses 
for  pet  animals,  or  weave  baskets,  etc. 

My  questions  had  stirred  the  curiosity  of  a 
few,  but  clear  as  were  the  explanations  which 
Mr.  Brandon  had  offered  to  us,  they  did  not 
satisfy  them,  nor  was  the  subject,  itself,  of 
lasting  interest  to  them.  To  my  chagrin,  I 
found  that  very  few  would  join  me  the  next 
evening  when  I  started  to  /meet  our  teacher 
at  the  appointed  place  and  my  mortification' 
inci'east'd  when  I  missed  fyn^n  >Uy  friend  Everett 
and  was  told  that  he  had  preferred  to  partici- 


114  YOUNG   WEST. 


pate  with  a  club  of  boys  in  a  boat  race  on 
the  lake.  I  felt  really  ashamed  when  so  small  a 
body  joined  our  kind  instructor  and  1  expressed 
my  regret  to  him. 

Mr.  Brandon  did  not  feel  slighted  by  our 
diminished  numbers  ;  quite  to  the  contrary,  he 
seemed  gratified  to  find  so  many. 

"Never  mind,"  said  he  to  me,  ''you  all  are 
young  enough  and  will  have  plenty  of  time  to 
return  to  the  same  topic,  f  am  satisfied  to  give 
you  the  benefit  of  my  knowledge,  but  it  requires 
a  more  matured  mind  than  is  yours  to  dwell 
upon  them  for  any  length  of  time.  The  absen- 
tees have  followed  the  advice  I  gave  them  last 
night  to  the  letter ;  they  do  not  worry  either 
about  the  past  or  the  future,  they  enjoy  the 
present.  However,  as  long  as  any  one  of  you 
will  listen  to  me,  or  will  ask  my  opinion,  you 
will  find  me  ever  ready  to  satisfy  you  as  best  I 
can." 

I  expressed  my  thanks  for  the  trouble  he  was 
taking  and  we  seated  ourselves  around  him  as 
on  the  previous  evening. 

"  I  promised,"  so  he  began,  "  to  answer,  as 
well  as  I  am  able,  your  second  question.  If 
your  first  one,  regarding  the  origin  of  all  things 
was  a  difficult  one,  your  second  interrogation  is 
still  more  intricate.       We  are  sooner  ready  to 


YOUNG  WE^sr.  115 

discard  the  thoughts  concerning  the  past  than 
such  as  refer  to  the  future.  The  question : 
"  What  will  become  of  us  after  death?"  appeals 
to  us  with  much  greater  force  than  the  one : 
"•What  have  we  been  in  the  past?"  By  our 
very  nature,  we  cUug  to  life  and  in  as  much  as 
nature  prevents  our  escape  by  the  pain  which 
every  violation  of  normal  conditions  causes  us, 
we  have  come  to  think  that  death  is  accom 
panied  by  pains  of  the  highest  degree  and  that 
the  nearer  we  approach  death  the  more  intense 
grows  the  pain.  Your  question.  Young  West: 
'  Does  it  hurt  to  die  ? '  is,  therefore,  a  very 
reasonable  one.  In  answer  to  it,  I  can  say,  that 
far  from  being  a  high  degree  of  pain,  death  is 
the  cessation  of  all  pain.  As  far  as  pain  is  con- 
cerned, we  need  not  dread  or  fear  the  hour  of 
death.  Pain  is  needed  to  preserve  our  lives. 
Just  imairine  for  a  moment  that  it  would  not 
hurt  you  to  fall  or  to  cut  your  fingers,  what 
would  be  the  consequences?  Without  knowing 
it,  you  would  break  all  the  bones  in  your  body, 
cut  off  your  hands,  or  destroy  your  eyesight, 
thus  making  existence  impossible.  It  is  because 
a  cut  hurts,  that  you  are  careful  in  the  use  of 
tools  or  because  it  is  painful  to  fall,  that  you  are 
careful  not  to  offend  against  the  stern  law  of  grav- 
ity.    It  may  sound  queer  to  you,  when  I  tell  you 


116  YOUNG  WEST. 

that  the  pain  caused  by  a  wound  is  not  felt  at 
the  place  where  it  is  inflicted,  but  in  your  brain, 
to  which  your  nerves,  like  telegraph  wires, 
carry  the  news,  viz.:  that  on  a  certain  place, 
some  abnormal  conditions  are  threatening  exist- 
ence. Let  me  explain  that  to  you  by  an  illus- 
tration. If  th-i  telegraph  wires  between  two 
places  were  cut,  no  news  of  an  occurrence  that 
happens  in  the  one  place  could  be  carried  to  the 
other.  The  telegraph  operator  in  station  B. 
would  remain  in  ignorance  of  whatever  occurs 
in  station  A.,  or,  if  the  operator  of  station  B.  is 
asleep,  his  instrument  can  keep  on  ticking  for- 
ever without  acquainting  him  with  the  message 
sent  by  the  operator  of  the  other  station.  Pre- 
cisely the  same  occurs  in  the  human  body.  You 
can  have  a  tooth  extracted  or  an  operation  per- 
formed on  your  body  under  the  influence  of 
ether  and  not  feel  the  least  pain.  Death 
destroys  the  receptive  forces ;  no  message  of 
distress  can,  therefore,  reach  the  mind  and  thus 
pain  cannot  be  experienced.  This,  I  hope,  will 
answer  your  question  :  "  Does  it  hurt  to  die  ?  " 

"  But,  connected  with  it,  is  the  more  impor- 
tant question ;  "  What  will  become  of  us  after 
death?"  Here  again  we  reach  the  limitation 
of  the  mind  and  all  conjectures  that  we  may 
offer,  will  lack  substantiation  by  fact.     I  told 


YOUNG  WEST.  117 


you  last  night,  that  every  particle  of  matter  is 
permeated  by  a  certain  amount  of  mind,  or 
mind  force,  that  in  fact,  mind  and  matter  can- 
not be  thought  of  as  separate  from  each  other. 
There  is  not  an  atom  of  matter  without  mind 
and  so  can  mind  not  exist  except  in  connection 
with  matter.  In  that  combination  of  mind  and 
matter  which  we  form,  the  manifestations  of  the 
mind  show  themselves  in  the  way  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  find  them  in  a  human  being,  while  the 
manifestations  of  the  mind  force  that  combine 
with  matter  in  the  construction  of  any  other 
being,  for  instance,  in  a  tree,  or  a  mineral,  or  an 
animal,  show  themselves  in  a  different  way. 
As  soon  as  these  peculiar  combinations  cease  or 
are  destroyed,  neither  mind  nor  matter  goes  out 
of  existence,  they  merely  enter  into  new  com- 
binations, and  these  new  combinations  most  nat- 
urally, manifest  themselves  in  new  forms  and 
activities.  If  both  mind  and  matter  are  inde- 
structible, if  they  cannot  be  annihilated,  their 
places  in  the  universe  cannot  remain  vacant; 
they  must  continue  to  exist,  and  only  their 
manifestations  will  change  from  the  moment 
they  become  parts  of  a  new  combination." 

"Perhaps  you  will  grasp  the  meaning  of 
the  rather  difficult  lesson  I  am  trying  to  impart 
to  you,  by  means  of  the  following  illustration. 


lis  YOUNG  WEST. 

You  have  seen  in  the  laboratory  how  we  dissolve 
water  into  its  component  parts,  hydrogen  and 
oxygen.  In  their  combination,  these  elements 
form  what  we  know  as  water,  and  as  water  tliey 
become  useful  to  us  in  a  great  many  ways.  I 
need  not  tell  you  what  the  properties  of  water 
are,  you  know  them.  Not  sooner,  however, 
do  we  separate  the  oxygen  from  the  hydrogen, 
than  the  form  of  water  is  lost  and  if  we  unite 
either  the  hydrogen  or  the  oxygen  with  some 
other  chemical,  a  new  substance  is  created  that 
shows  not  even  one  of  the  properties  that  water 
formerly  showed.  We  may  call  the  water 
'•dead"  after  that  separation  of  its  elements, 
but  does  it  not  exist  yet  in  its  parts'?  Exactly 
in  the  same  manner  do  we  continue  after  mind 
and  matter  that  have  composed  us  and  have 
manifested  themselves  for  a  certain  time  in  our 
activities,  are  separated  and  enter  into  new 
states  of  existence." 

"  Looked  upon  in  that  light,  we  need  not  dread 
the  future,  whatever  that  may  be,  and  from 
such  observations,  we  arrive  at  the  same  lessons 
which  we  obtain  from  reflections  upon  the  past. 
It  is  the  present  that  concerns  us  ;  here  we  find 
ourselves,  a  combination  of  mind  and  matter ; 
its  manifestations  we  call  our  life;  let  us  act 
that  out  in  the  fullest  sense    of   the  word  and 


YOUya    Wl'JSJ'.  119 

in  accordance  with  its  destination.  Let  us 
recognize  its  limitation  and  whatever  may  be- 
come of  us  after  the  separation  of  mind  and 
matter,  we  may  feel  sure  that  the  mateiial  of 
which  we  are  formed,  as  well  as  the  forces  which 
keep  them  in  this  prescribed  form,  will  accomo- 
date themselves  with  the  same  ease  to  new  con- 
ditions as  they  have  to  their  present." 

After  he  had  finished,  I  looked  about  and 
found  that  some  of  my  companions  could  scarcely 
keep  their  eyes  open.  What  our  teacher  had 
told  them  was  more  than  they  could  comprehend. 

On  our  way  home,  Mr.  Brandon  began  to 
talk  to  us  about  daily  occurrences ;  about  an 
excursion  which  we  had  planned;  about  the 
outcome  of  a  series  of  b  iseball  games,  that  were 
played  by  various  clubs;  about  the  recent  walk- 
ing match  and  other  related  topics.  This  con- 
versation had  the  effect  that  when  we  arrived 
at  home,  his  lecture  on  death  was  forgotten  and 
did  not  disturb  our  slumber. 

I  was  the  only  one  who  took  the  whole  matter 
in  a  more  serious  way.  Whenever  I  found  an 
opportunity,  I  had  some  new  question  to  ask 
Mr.  Brandon,  which  he  always  answered  in 
a  most  pleasant  manner.  lie  advised  me  to 
read  several  books,  especially  the  religious  text 
books  of  former  times,  among  them,  the  Vedas, 


120  YOUNG   WEST. 

the  Bible,  and  the  Koran.  I  tried  to  read  them 
but  they  were  so  uninteresting  to  me  that  I  gave 
up  the  attempt. 

What  surprised  me  most  in  them  was  that 
they  all  advised  to  feed  the  hungry,  clothe  the 
naked,  not  to  take  what  belonged  to  others,  etc. 

Had  there  ever  been  people  who  went  with- 
out a  meal  or  were  lacking  clothes?  Were 
there  ever  people  guilty  of  encumbering  them- 
selves with  the  personal  property  of  others? 

One  of  these  books,  the  Bible,  was  full  of 
narratives  of  wars  in  which  one  people  de- 
stroyed the  lives  and  properties  of  others.  The 
stories  ran,  that  God,  by  whom,  I  supposed  then 
was  meant  a  person  of  great  power,  helped 
them  in  their  destructive  work.  Why  did  they 
destroy  the  ones  whose  help  they  needed  to 
produce  the  good  things  of  this  life  ?  I  placed 
this  question  before  Mr,  Bi-andon  and  he  told 
me  that  the  people  of  that  time  had  hardly 
emerged  from  barbarism  and  that  they  acted 
more  like  brutes  than  like  human  beings. 

On  the  whole,  I  did  not  care  for  that  class  of 
literature,  I  returned  the  books  to  the  library 
and  not  before  many  years  did  I  touch  them 
again. 


YOUNG  WEST.  121 


CHAPTER  IX. 

The  time  finally  arrived  that  I  was  promoted 
to  the  Iliirh  school.  Again  the  classmates  had 
to  part.  According  to  the  talents  which  we 
had  developed,  we  were  sent  to  continue  our 
studies  in  such  parts  of  the  country  as  offered 
the  best  chances  of  observing  the  various 
^branches  of  production  and  manufacture  for 
which  we  had  shown  a  preference.  I,  with  a 
few  of  my  friends,  was  sent  westward  to  a 
school  in  the  neighborhood  of  Denver,  in 
Colorado.  A  number  of  mines  from  which 
useful  metals  are  drawn,  are  found  in  the  near 
vicinity  of  that  school ;  there  are  also  large 
farms,  some  of  them  covering  thousands  of  acres 
of  ground. 

An  aeroplane  was  ordered  for  our  journey  and 
for  the  first  time  in  my  life,  I  experienced  the 
sensations  which  travel  in  an  air-ship  offers. 
The  airoplane  rises  only  to  a  limited  height, 
not  too  distant  from  the  earth  to  hinder  obser- 
vation. I  need  not  describe  the  vehicle  to  my 
readers  as  tliey  must  be  all  familiar  with  its 
construction,  I  merely  wish  to  remind  them  of 


122  YOUNG   Wi'JST. 

the  fascinations  with  which  a  first  journey  in 
one  of  them,  charms  the  traveller. 

We  rose  higher  and  hicrher  until  the  cities 
below  us  resembled  toys,  the  people  in  them, 
ants  in  their  heaps,  the  rivers,  silver  bands, 
winding  through  the  green,  and  the  lakes  pieces 
of  glass  scattered  over  the  surface. 

The  trip  lasted  twenty-four  hours,  a  night 
and  a  day.  We  started  late  in  the  afternoon^ 
and  far  into  the  night,  we  remained  on  deck 
enjoying  the  landscape,  illuminated  by  myriads 
of  electric  lights,  over  which  we  were  passing. 

Mr.  Brandon  had  been  selected  to  accompany 
us  and  to  deliver  us  safely  to  the  new  principal. 
He  had  frequently  made  this  journey  and  was, 
therefore,  familiar  with  all  the  objects  that  met 
our  gaze.  He  pointed  out  to  us  the  largest 
aluminum  works  and  gave  us  an  estimate  of  the 
amount  of  that  metal  that  was  used  every  year 
and  of  the  number  of  people  who  were  employed 
in  its  manufacture.  "In  former  ages,"  he 
explained,  "  most  articles  were  made  of  wood, 
and  people  were,  therefore,  always  exposed  to 
the  dangers  of  fire.  He  told  us  how  the  city  of 
Chicago,  which  we  passed  on  our  way,  was  once 
destroyed  by  a  conflagration  and  how  a  good 
deal  of  energy  was  wasted  in  former  days  in 
preparations  to  subdue  this  hostile  force. 


YOUNG  WE  1ST.  123 


Supper  was  served  and  after  that  we  went  to 
rest  in  the  compartments  of  thft  ship's  dormi- 
tory. We  were  up  early  because  we  were  eager 
to  see  all  the  novel  sights.  We  crossed  a  vast 
plain,  upon  which,  as  Mr.  Brandon  told  us, 
quite  a  quantity  of  cerials  were  raised  with 
which  the  people  were  supplied.  We  observed 
large  tracts  of  land  covered  only  with  grass 
upon  which  immense  herds  of  cattle  were 
grazing.  All  these  sights  were  new  to  us  and 
our  eyes  feasted  on  them. 

We  also  watched  with  great  interest  the 
engineer,  who  skillfully  directed  the  course  of 
the  aeroplane,  utilizing  the  evershifting  winds. 

We  almost  met  with  an  accident.  A  piston 
in  one  of  our  motors  broke ;  the  machine  ceased 
to  work  and  we  descended  so  rapidly  that  we 
were  in  danger  of  striking  the  ground  and 
wrecking  the  ship.  The  helmsman,  however, 
did  not  lose  his  presence  of  mind.  He  ordered 
the  parachutes  to  be  opened  and  the  rapidity  of 
our  downward  course  was  thus  broken. 

We  landed  quite  a  distance  from  a  city,  but 
some  people  who  were  working  in  the  fields 
near  by,  had  observed  us  and  came  to  our 
rescue.  After  a  short  delay,  the  machine  was 
repaired  and  we  departed. 

As    a    matter   of   course,    we   arrived    at    our 


124  YOUNG  WEST. 

destination  later  than  we  were  expected.  An 
investigation  took  place  at  once  to  ascertain 
whether  the  accident  had  been  unavoidable  or 
whether  it  was  caused  by  some  culpable  negli- 
gence. It  was  proven  that  nobody  was  to 
blame,  that  the  machinery  had  been  examined 
carefully  before  we  started  and  that  it  had  been 
found  in  good  working  order. 

Mr.  Brandon  delivered  his  charge  to  the 
principal,  a  gentleman,  who  impressed  me'  in  the 
same  manner  as  had  all  my  principals  hereto- 
fore. Mr.  Chase  seemed  to  be  kind-hearted  and 
thoroughly  adapted  for  his  work.  When  he 
looked  at  us  with  his  large  blue  eyes,  he  seemed 
to  penetrate  our  very  souls  and  read  our  very 
thoughts.  I  was  introduced  to  him  by  Mr. 
Brandon  as  "  Young  West "  and  on  account  of 
my  descent  from  so  famous  a  father,  I  was 
received  by  Mr.  Chase  with  a  somewhat  greater 
attention  than  that  which  is  usually  bestowed 
upon  new  comers. 

The  routine  in  the  school  varied  little  from 
that  of  the  other  schools,  and  yet  there  were  a 
few  remarkable  divergencies. 

We  were  now  old  enough  and  sufficiently 
trained  to  take  care  of  ourselves  ;  there  was  no 
further  need  of  being  given  in  charge  of  the 
older  pupils  of  the  school.     Each  class  elected 


YOUNG  WEST.  125 

its  own  officers  who  were  distinguished  from  the 
rest  by  a  silver  cord  around  the  sleeves  of  their 
uniform.  The  commissioned  officers  were  drawn 
only  from  the  senior  class,  and  gold  braided 
shoulder  straps  were  the  insignia  of  their  office. 
The  scholars  of  the  junior  class  were  allowed  to 
vote  for  their  non-commissioned  officers,  but  they 
had  no  right  to  cast  their  ballots  for  the  com- 
missioned officers.  It  could  not  be  expected 
that  the  new  comers  should  know  anything 
concerning  the  qualification  of  boys  to  an  office, 
who  were  strangers  to  them.  As  it  happened, 
I  failed  this  time  to  be  elected  to  an  office,  even 
by  the  contingent  that  came  from  our  school. 
The  choice  fell  upon  my  friend  Everett.  I  did 
not  consider  that  a  humiliation,  but  was  rather 
glad  to  escape  for  a  year  the  onerous  duties  and 
responsibilities  that  are  connected  with  an 
office.  Understanding  how  difficult  the  task  of 
an  overseer  is,  all  of  us,  who  had  held  offices 
before,  yielded  understandingly  to  the  authority 
of  their  superiors  and  tried  to  make  their  duties 
easier  for  them. 

Another  innovation  was,  that  an  account  was 
now  opened  for  us  in  the  books  of  the  school 
and  that  we  received  expenditure-blanks.  Our 
clothing  and  scliool  utensils  were  furnished  for 
us  as  heretofore,  but  we   were    now  given  the 


126  TOUNQ  WEST. 

liberty  of  choosing  what  we  desired  to  eat  from 
a  bill  of  fare  and  to  pay  for  it  from  the  amount 
granted  to  us  for  that  purpose.  The  sum  was 
large  enough  to  keep  us  well  fed  during  the 
term  of  half  a  year.  There  were  also  provisions 
made  for  travelling  expenses.  Whenever  we 
planned  a  trip,  eacli  now  had  to  provide  for 
himself,  according  to  his  likings.  A  margin 
was  also  left  for  the  purchase  of  articles  for 
personal  comforts  or  to  pay  for  admission  to 
hippodromes  or  other  places  of  amusement, 
which  we  liked  to  frequent  when  we  visited 
Denver.  These  expenditure  slips  bore  the 
stamp  of  our  school  and  had  to  be  signed  by  us. 
*  They  were  issued  for  the  amounts  fixed  as  the 
price  of  the  purchased  article  and  we  were 
warned  to  arrange  our  financial  affairs  in  such  a 
manner  as  not  to  overdraw  our  accounts.  At 
the  end  of  each  term,  the  amounts  were  can- 
celled and  after  a  short  time,  we  had  learned  so 
well  (o  manage  our  affairs  that  none  of  us  were 
found  short,  whereas  most  of  us  had  a  surplus  of 
funds  to  return  to  the  treasury. 

This  liberty  of  choosing  our  food,  included 
also  the  liberty  of  asking  for  meats,  which,  here- 
tofore, had  been  denied  us.  Although  I  accus- 
tomed myself  in  the  course  of  time  to  the 
use  of  viands,   I  cannot  say  that    I    became    a 


YOUNG  WEST.  127 

great  lover  of  either  fish,  fowl,  or  meat.  [  pre- 
ferred a  vegetable  diet  and  so  did  a  great  many 
of  my  companions. 

Beverages,  containing  small  quantities  of  alco- 
hol, and  light  wines,  such  as  are  yet  liked  by 
some  people  and,  therefore,  manufactured,  were 
not  on  our  bill  of  fare,  and  the  keepers  of 
the  national  stores  were  not  permitted  to  deliver 
such  to  the  inmates  of  a  school.  Not  before  a 
person  had  entered  the  industrial  army,  was 
such  a  privilege  extended  to  him.  Later  on,  as 
you  know,  the  privilege  was  witheld  until  a 
person  reached  his  twenty-fifth  year  and  I  can 
see  no  reason  why  the  manufacture  of  such 
beverages  should  not  be  discontinued  altogether, 
precisely  as  has  been  the  manufacture  of  nar- 
cotics, when  the  demand  for  them  had  ceased. 

Another  difference  between  our  present  school 
and  the  primary  and  intermediary  schools,  was, 
that  girls  were  no  longer  educated  with  us  in 
the  same  buildings.  There  was  another  school 
like  ours  in  the  vicinity,  entirely  arranged  for 
the  education  of  girls.  The  two  schools  in  their 
work  stood  in  intimate  relation  to  each  other, 
visits  were  frequently  exchanged  and  many 
of  our  excursions  were  undertaken  by  parties 
from  both  institutions.  They,  however,  occu- 
pied their  own  building  as  we  did  ours  and  their 


128  YOUNG  WEST. 

instructors  were  now  women  while  ours  were 
men. 

This  arrangement  had  been  perfected  after 
a  great  deal  of  study  and  so  far,  we  have  found 
it  the  wisest  and  the  best. 

We  had  not  been  kept,  heretofore,  in  total 
ignorance  in  regard  to  the  process  of  genera- 
tion. We  had  been  led  to  observe  it  in  plants, 
after  that,  in  animals  of  a  lower  grade,  finally 
in  animals  of  a  higher  order  until  it  was  but  a 
short  step  to  take  to  apply  the  same  laws  of 
generation  to  the  human  species.  Far  from 
exciting  our  curiosity  or  corrupting  us,  all  these 
observations  and  the  conversations  we  had 
about  them,  had  left  us  rather  indifferent,  but 
now  that  the  age  of  puberty  had  been  reached 
by  us,  peculiar  sensations  and  strange  feelings 
began  to  trouble  us.  We  had  seen  in  the 
museums  and  in  the  large  public  places  in  the 
cities,  statues  representing  the  human  form  in 
its  nudity.  So  far  they  had  not  affected  our 
imagination;  now  we  began  to  look  at  them 
with  different  emotions.  We  had  strange 
dreams ;  in  a  word,  we  passed  through  that 
stage  of  life  in  which  nature  prepares  us  for  the 
coming  duties  of  procreation.  Our  teachers 
understood  this  strange  process  through  which 
we  were  passing,  as  they  themselves  had  passed 


YOUNG  WEST.  129 

through  it,  and  they  instructed  us  in  all  the 
laws  by  which  generation  is  regulated.  After 
we  left  the  high  school,  we  were  fully  conver 
sant  with  the  mysterious  actions  of  this  natural 
force.  All  coarseness  was  removed  ;  the  brutal 
elements  had  been  eliminated  and  the  holiness 
and  sanctity  that  surrounds  that  mystery  was 
alone  preserved. 

Similar  instructions  were  imparted  to  the 
girls  by  their  teachers  and  when  we  met  after- 
wards as  young  men  and  women,  we  met  on  an 
equal  footing,  thoroughly  conversant  with  the 
consequences  of  any  rash  act,  which  under  the 
pressure  of  this  most  powerful  of  all  natural 
forces,  the  young  are  likely  to  commit. 

We  were  also  told  to  pay  greater  attention 
to  newspapers  and  to  pei'iodicals  than  we  had 
given  to  that  class  of  literature  before.  Some 
changes  have  occurred  in  the  collection  and 
distribution  of  news  since  I  was  a  boy,  but  in 
general,  our  daily  and  weekly  papers  were 
then  about  the  same  as  they  are  now. 

There  was  the  National  News  Register, 
which  informed  the  reader  of  the  events  of  the 
day;  it  announced  the  official  orders;  it 
brouoht  accounts  of  the  decisions  of  the  courts 
of  arbitration  ;  it  published  the  names  of  people 
promoted  to  some  higher  office ;  it  reported  the 


130  YOUNG  WEST. 

deaths  of  all  such  men  or  women  who  had  dis- 
tinguished themselves  and  were  filling  or  had 
filled  responsible  positions. 

The  Provincial  News  Register  and  the  City 
News  Register,  contained  matter  of  a  similar 
nature  with  the  only  difference  that  their 
announcements  referred  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  city  or  province  in  which  they  were  pub- 
lished, but  not  to  the  whole  country. 

Next  in  order  were  the  publications  of  the 
various  guilds  which  appeared  weekly  or 
monthly  and  which  discussed  pro  and  con,  the 
latest  inventions  in  their  branch  of  industry. 
They  also  contained  news  matter  which  was 
expected  to  be  useful  and  of  interest  to  the 
members  of  such  a  fraternity. 

The  schools  had  a  periodical  of  their  own,  to 
which  the  principals  and  teachers  all  over  the 
country  contributed.  Besides  discussions  of 
educational  topics,  they  contained  the  names  of 
pupils  that  were  chosen  to  hold  offices  and  it 
was  for  honorable  mention  in  such  a  paper  that 
we  gladly  took  upon  us  the  burdens  of  an  office. 
Most  high  schools  issued  a  paper  of  their  own 
which  they  exchanged  with  other  high  schools 
so  that  quite  a  number  of  them  could  always  be 
found  upon  the  tables  of  our  library.  These 
sheets  were  not  alike  in  volume  or  composition. 


YOUNG  WEST.  131 

Some  of  them  were  quite  elaborate  while  others 
were  rather  small  and  plain.  The  best,  gener- 
ally, came  from  the  high  schools  in  which 
literary  talents  received  developmeixt  and  the 
plain  ones  from  institutions  like  ours,  where 
literary  attainments  were  not  of  a  high  order. 

The  news  was  collected  by  a  very  simple 
method.  The  heads  of  each  department  sent 
their  reports  either  daily  or  weekly  to  the  press 
bureau.  Here  the  items  were  sifted,  rubricated 
and  published. 

Every  member  of  the  guild  had  the  privilege 
of  sending  his  contribution  to  the  periodical  of 
his  order.  No  matter  what  his  opinion  was,  or 
whether  it  agreed  with,  or  opposed  prevailing 
ideas,  it  was  published  in  the  order  in  which  it 
was  received.  An  overflow  of  matter  rarely 
occurred,  because  nobody  cared  to  appear  in 
public  print  unless  he  had,  indeed,  some  novel 
and  good  idea  to  offer.  The  cost  of  the  manu- 
facture of  these  papers  was  small  on  account  of 
their  large  ciiculation,  so  that  the  subscription 
price  for  such  a  publication  was  trifling.  A 
person  could  order  several  of  them  without  feel- 
ing it.  Some  agriculturists  were  interested  in 
news  concerning  machines  and  some  textile 
maker  desired  to  follow  the  progress  of  archi- 
tecture.      Whosoever    wished    to    be    informed 


132  YOUNG  WEST. 


only  now  and  then  about  what  was  going  on 
in  other  branches  of  industry  than  his  own, 
couki  find  all  periodicals  in  the  libraries  of 
either  his  block  or  the  club  to  which  he 
belonged. 

The  paper  Avhich  we  edited  and  printed  in 
our  school  was  made  up  entirely  by  the  boys, 
as  in  all  high  schools  the  labors  needed  for 
their  proper  management  were  performed  by  its 
inmates.  We  were  divided  into  a  number  of 
squads,  which  under  the  supervision  of  either 
a  teacher  or  an  expert  official,  would  take 
turns  in  managing  the  house.  While  one  division 
would  run  for  a  week  the  machinery  of  the 
house,  another  would  attend  to  the  kitchen,  a 
third  to  the  serving  of  the  table,  a  fourth  to  the 
laundry,  a  fifth  to  the  gardening,  etc.  The 
same  section,  which  in  its  turn  was  found  one 
week  in  the  laundry,  could  be  found  the  next 
week  in  the  printing  department  or  in  the 
ofiices  w^hich  connected  the  school  with  the  sup- 
ply department  or  the  general  government. 
The  labor,  divided  among  so  many,  became  no 
burden  to  any  of  us  so  that  neither  were  our 
hours  of  recreation  curtailed  by  them  nor  our 
progress  in  our  various  studies  impeded. 

Besides  continuing  our  former  studies,  we 
were  now  introduced  into  the  science    of   civil 


YOUNG  WEST.  133 

engineering,  topography,  chemistry  and  related 
branches.  Numbers  of  us  were  also  sent  in 
turn  to  neighboring  farms  to  assist  in  farm 
work,  or  to  neighboring  mines  to  become  famil- 
iar with  this  branch  of  labor.  Frequent  excur- 
sions were  made  to  industrial  establishments  so 
that  there  was  hardly  an  article  used  by  us  the 
numufacture  of  which  we  could  not  ex[)]ain. 
Three  times  during  the  year,  every  division  was 
given  a  vacation  of  two  weeks,  which,  if  they 
ehose,  they  could  spend  in  travel. 

During  my  stay  in  the  high  school,  I  visited 
my  mother  twice,  and  upon  a  coidial  invitation 
flora  one  of  my  uncles,  I  called  once  upon  him. 
The  trip  to  South  America,  which  I  made  in 
an  aeroplane,  was  rather  an  expensive  one  to 
nic  and  I  prepared  for  it  for  quite  a  while, 
curtailing  my  expenses  in  every  possible  man- 
i.er.  I  lived  more  frugal,  denied  myself  various 
amusements  and  remained  quietly  at  home  dur- 
ing one  vacation,  but  the  new  scenes  which  1 
saw  during  that  ttip  and  the  reception  which  my 
uncle  gave  me,  fully  repaid  me  for  my  sacri- 
lices. 

I  made  many  fast  friends  in  the  school  so  that 
already  in  my  second  year,  the  silver  cord 
adorned  my  uniform,  and  in  the  fourth  year 
I  was  choseii  to  one  of  the  highest  offices  of  the 


134  YOUNG  WEST. 


school  organization.  It  was  at  that  time  when  I 
visited  my  uncle. 

I  will  not  withold  the  truth  from  the  reader 
and  confess  that  a  feeling  of  vanity  prompted 
me  to  show  not  only  my  gold-braided  shoulder 
straps  but  also  the  white  ribbon  in  my  button- 
hole, which  I  had  received  from  the  government 
in  acknowledgment  of  a  deed  of  bravery. 

I  had  been  detailed,  some  time  before,  to 
work  for  a  couple  of  days  in  a  neighboring  lead 
mine.  By  an  unforeseen  accident,  a  gallery 
caved  in  and  a  number  of  men  were  buried 
under  the  debris.  A  call  was  made  for  volun- 
teers to  enter  the  unsafe  regions  and  to  try 
to  save  them.  I  offered  my  services  at  once. 
My  physical  strength  and  my  nimbleness  over- 
came all  the  dangers  that  threatened  our  small 
party,  and  I  was  the  first  one  who  reached 
the  unfortunates.  It  had  been  one  of  my  quali- 
ties to  always  think  before  I  acted  and  thus 
I  had  the  foresiijht  of  taking  with  me  some  food 
and  water  before  starting,  a  consideration  which 
had  been  overlooked  by  the  rest  in  the  excite- 
ment of  the  hour.  I  found  the  men  in  a  terrible 
condition;  some  had  been  killed;  a  number  had 
been  wounded,  and  the  ones  who  had  escaped 
unhurt,  were  exhausted  from  the  want  of  food 
i-nd,   especially,   of    water.      The    provisions    I 


YOUNG  WEST.  135 

brought  with  me  saved  their  lives.  I  received 
therefore,  public  thanks  not  alone  for  my  will- 
ingness to  risk  my  life  in  the  rescue  of  others, 
but  for  having  remained  collected  and  careful, 
where  others,  older  than  myself,  had  lost  their 
heads.  It  was  then  that  the  white  ribbon  was 
given  to  me  and  as  I  was  the  only  boy  in  our 
school  who  had  earned  a  decoration,  I  felt 
rather  proud  of  the  distinction. 

I  look  back  upon  the  years  in  high  school  as 
the  most  pleasant  in  my  life.  Although  I  had 
never  suffered  from  any  serious  sickness,  and 
although  I  had  developed  into  a  pretty  strong 
boy  to  the  astonishment  of  all  who  knew  me  as 
a  child,  my  lungs  were  not  as  strong  as  I  could 
have  wished  them  to  be.  The  slightest  cold 
affected  me,  but  since  the  time  that  I  was  trans- 
planted into  the  bracing  climate  of  Colorado,  I 
experienced  no  trouble  and  my  respiratory 
organs  improved.  I  enjoyed  perfect  health ;  I 
grew  over  night,  so  that  at  the  age  of  eighteen, 
I  measured  six  feet,  and  weighed  one  hundred 
and  eighty  pounds.  The  work  in  which  I  was 
employed  as  well  as  my  studies,  gave  me  great 
pleasure.  Athletic  sports  also  offered  me 
amusement  and  on  account  of  my  agility  I  was 
well  liked  in  the  various  clubs  which  the  boys 
had  formed  for  their  games.     I  could  walk  and 


136  YOUNG  WEST. 


run  without  being  easily  exhausted;  I  rowed  a 
fuin  stroke  ;  I  was  a  swift  bicycle  rider.  While 
working  on  the  farm,  I  learned  to  ride  on  horse- 
back and  as  I  loved  horses,  it  became  a  favorite 
pastime  with  me. 

I  began  now  to  look  forward  with  joyful 
anticipation  to  the  time  when  1  should  join  the 
Industrial  army,  because  all  the  boys  began  to 
feel  when  they  came  to  that  age  that  they 
should  do  something  for  the  community  which 
so  far  had  cared  for  them,  had  so  amply  pro- 
vided for  their  wants,  and  had  permitted  them 
to  pass  their  youth  in  so  pleasant  a  manner. 
"Two  more  years,"  we  said  to  one  another, 
"  to  Muster-day,"  and  our  faces  beamed  with 
delight. 

These  two  years  were  called  the  collegiate 
years,  of  which  one  was  to  be  spent  in  another 
institution  near  by,  the  other  in  travelling. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Little  occurred  during  these  last  two  years  of  v' 
school  life  which  to  relate  would  interest  the 
reader.  The  difference  between  the  college 
and  the  high  school  consisted  merely  that  we 
ceased  to  wear  a  uniform  and  that  we  had  to 
supply  all  our  wearing  apparel  from  the  funds 


YOUNG  WEST.  137 


placed  to  our  account.  Each  could  now  dress 
as  be  pleased,  but  though  our  tastes  began  to 
differ,  as  a  rule,  we  dressed  in  a  quiet  and 
simple  manner.  We  would  dress  more  elabo- 
rately only  when  we  met  girls  from  neighboiing 
colleges  at  entertainments ;  then  we  tried  to 
look  our  best.  We  had  been  trained  in  calis- 
thenics already  in  the  intermediary  schools,  and 
we  continued  these  pleasant  exercises,  because 
the  charm  and  fascination  which  we  experienced 
in  the  company  of  the  other  sex  had  grown  as 
we  advanced  in  years. 

I  had  always  loved  to  be  in  the  company  of 
girls  and  counted  many  friends  among  them. 
Still,  I  had  never  met  a  girl  that  attracted  me 
otherwise  than  would  a  playmate  of  my  own 
sex.  The  girls  whom  I  had  met  so  far  were  all 
pursuing  the  same  studies  as  myself;  they 
were  similarly  talented,  and  showed  the  same 
inclinations  for  practical  work.  Our  conversa- 
tions would  ever  turn  around  the  same  topics. 
They  found  nothing  special  to  admire  in  me  nor 
did  I  in  them.  They  could  do  the  same  work 
that  I  did  and  I  could  accomplish  with  ease  any 
task  assigned  to  them.  As  the  positive  or  nega- 
'  tive  poles  of  a  magnet  will  repel  each  other,  so 
I  do  equal  talents  and  aspirations  of  the  same 
j  order  rarely  ever  attract  the  sexes. 


138  YOUNG  WEST. 

I  learned  to  look  up  to  a  woman  of  my  age 
with  admiration  for  the  first  time  in  my  life 
when,  in  my  second  collegiate  year,  1  was  sent 
travelling  to  a  southern  city,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  which  I  was  to  study,  for  a  month  or 
two,  the  culture  of  the  cotton  plant. 

We  met  uj)on  a  Mississippi  boat.  Miss 
Violet  Horton  was  a  musician.  She  was  a 
Californian  by  birth.  In  her  childhood  she  had 
shown  a  talent  for  music,  which  had  been 
developed  until  finally  she  was  sent  to  Atlantis, 
in  which  city  at  that  time,  the  highest  branches 
of  music  were  taught.  She  sang  very  well, 
played  the  harp  most  excellently,  but  the 
instrument  which  Avas  her  forte  was  the  violin. 
She  was  travelling  to  the  same  southern  city  in 
the  neighborhood  of  which  I  was  to  pursue  my 
avocation,  in  order  to  appear  as  soloist  in  a 
symphony. 

I  liked  music  to  some  extent,  but  my  knowl- 
edge of  that  art  was  rather  limited.  I  had 
absolutely  no  understanding  of  its  higher  mean- 
ing. A  march,  played  by  an  orchestrion,  with 
plenty  of  drums  and  trumpets  in  it,  or  a  waltz 
which  would  invite  the  feet  to  a  dance,  was 
more  appreciated  by  me  than  the  finest  sym- 
phony composed  by  the  most  celebrated  maes- 
tro. 


YOUNG  WEST.  139 


Upon  the  request  of  some  fellow  travellers, 
she  had  played  for  us  in  the  parlor  of  the  boat, 
and  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  felt  that 
there  was  more  in  music  than  I  had  ever  sus- 
pected. Her  instrument  seemed  to  speak,  to 
laugh  and  to  weep ;  it  expressed  joy  and  sor- 
row; it  appealed  to  every  one  of  the  emotions 
that  dwell  in  the  human  heart.  She  had  kept 
her  audience  spell-bound  during  her  perform- 
ance, and  a  storm  of  applause  greeted  her  as  the 
last  note  had  died  into  silence.  Tears  had  even 
risen  to  my  eyes. 

On  deck  we  fell  into  conversation.  My  name 
had  been  mentioned  to  her.  "  You  are  Yountr 
West,"  she  addressed  me;  "why,  I  know  your 
mother.  During  my  stay  in  Atlantis  I  was 
taken  sick  and  your  mother  was  my  nurse  in 
the  hospital." 

We  spoke  of  the  various  sights  that  were  to 
be  seen  in  the  city,  of  its  institutions,  of  its 
pleasure  resorts  on  the  shores  of  its  beautiful 
harbor.  This  led  to  her  telling  me  of  California 
and  to  my  telling  her  of  Colorado,  also  of  my 
recent  trip  to  South  America.  She  then  turned 
the  conversation  upon  the  great  masters  of  her 
art,  of  whom  I  had  but  little  heard,  of  the  con- 
certs in  which  she  had  appeared,  and  of  her 
prospects    and    plans    for    the    future.     I  could 


140  YOUNG  WEST. 


only  tell  her  of  my  aspirations  and  of  the 
occupations  which  I  preferred  to  all  others. 
Vanity  prompted  me  to  hel-p  her  discover  the 
white  ribbon  which  I  wore,  and  I  was  more 
than  gratified  when  she  asked  me  to  relate  the 
adventure  through  which  T  had  earned  that 
distinction. 

In  the  same  degree  as  the  realms  of  sound  in 
which  she  moved  and  lived  were  foreign  to  me, 
so  was  she  a  stranger  in  my  spheres  of  activity ; 
as  I  admired  her,  so  she  seemed  to  admire  me; 
as  1  overestimated  the  intricacies  of  the  musical 
art,  so  did  she,  no  doubt,  overestimate  the  diffi- 
culties of  my  pursuits.  In  a  word,  her  presence 
wove  a  spell  around  me  which  I  could  not  break, 
and  did  not  care  to  break. 

A  peculiar,  unpleasant  and  surely  foolish  feel- 
ing stole  over  me  when  sevei-al  other  young  men, 
fellow  passengers  on  the  boat,  sought  her  com 
pany  and  she  conversed  with  them  as  cheer- 
fully as  she  did  with  me.  How  could  I  expect 
that  after  so  short  an  acquaintance  she  should 
have  neither  ears  nor  eyes  for  anybody  else  but 
for  me  alone  ?  I  began  to  sulk  and  came  near 
making  a  fool  of  myself.  With  difficulty  did  I 
fight  down  this  feeling  of  jealousy,  in  the  hope 
that,  as  I  was  to  stay  with  her  in  the  same 
neighborhood  for  quite  a  while,  our  friendship, 


YOUNG  WEST.  141 

from  which  I  derived  so  much  pleasure,  might 
increase. 

When  we  arrived  at  our  destination,  we  ex- 
changed addresses  and  she  promised  to  receive 
me  whenever  T  sliould  clioose  to  call. 

A  few  days  passed  before  I  had  familiarized 
myself  with  the  conditions  which  I  had  been 
sent  to  the  place  to  learn,  but  though  I  dili- 
gently pursued  my  studies,  I  could  not  tear 
my  thoughts  away  from  the  fair  musician.  I 
saw  her  slender  form  ever  before  me  ;  the  tones 
which  she  had  drawn  from  her  instrument,  were 
continually  ringing  in  my  ears  ;  I  remembered 
with  delight  the  sensation  of  the  touch  of  her 
hand  on  bidding  her  good-by.  I  could  com- 
pare it  only  to  an  electric  shock. 

The  plantation  upon  which  I  was  stationed 
for  the  sake  of  observation  was  situated  at  some 
distance  from  the  city  and  I  had  to  travel  morn- 
ing and  night  to  and  from  the  place  for  seveial 
hours.  Occasionally  I  had  to  spend  the  night 
with  some  of  the  workmen  on  the  plantation. 
All  this  made  it  impossible  for  me  to  visit  my 
new  friend  during  the  first  two  weeks  after  my 
arrival. 

At  last,  the  most  difficult  of  my  tasks  were 
accomplished  and  I  could  take  a  holiday.  I 
called   on    Miss   Horton  one    morning,  but  was 


142  YOUNG  WEST. 

told  that  she  was  at  a  rehearsal.  She  had  taken 
rooms  in  a  block  where  most  of  the  musicians 
domiciled  in  this  city  resided.  I  left  my  card 
in  the  office,  naming  the  time  when  I  would 
return  in  the  afternoon. 

With  a  few  friends,  I  strolled  through  the 
town  to  see  the  sights  and  took  lunch  at  the 
planters'  club-house,  but  time  seemed  to  hang  on 
my  hands.  The  dials  on  the  street  clocks 
had  apparently  conspired  against  me ;  they 
informed  me  that  I  had  plenty  of  time  yet. 

When  I  called  at  the  office  I  found  a  note 
from  Miss  Horton,  regretting  that  some  previ- 
ous engagement  hindered  her  from  receiving  me 
that  afternoon,  but  that  she  would  be  pleased 
to  meet  me  after  the  concert  in  which  she  was 
to  play  that  evening. 

Not  being  a  judge  of  music,  I  can  tell  only 
that  the  audience  listened  with  delight  to  every 
number  of  the  programme  and  that  my  friend's 
play  took  the  house  by  storm.  In  my  vanity,  I 
had  expected,  that  when  stepping  upon  the 
stage,  she  would  at  least  make  an  effort  to 
ascertain  whether  I  was  in  the  audience ;  I 
tried  to  catch  her  eye  ;  she  did  not  seem  to  care. 
From  the  moment  she  began  to  play  until  she 
had  finished,  she  appeared  enwrapped  in  her  art. 
The  ovation  that  was   rendered  to  her  did  not 


YOUNG  WEST.  143 


affect  her  in  the  least ;  she  simply  bow-^d  in 
acknowledgment  like  one  who  is  accustomed  to 
receive  such  expressions  of  appreciation. 

I  sent  one  of  the  ushers  with  my  card  to  her, 
and  upon  her  orders,  he  led  me  after  the  concert 
to  a  private  room  behind  the  stage,  that  was 
reserved  for  the  artists  and  their  friends.  I 
found  her  surrounded  by  men  and  women  of  the 
musical  profession,  also  by  people,  who,  without 
being  musicians,  themselves,  were  lovers  and 
good  critics  of  music.  They  talked  about  the 
performance  and  how  the  various  numbers  had 
been  rendered.  All  they  said  was  so  utterly 
foreign  to  me  that  I  almost  felt  ashamed  of  my- 
self. 

As  soon  as  she  caught  sight  of  me,  she  came 
pleasantly  forward  and  extended  both  her  hands 
to  greet  me.  We  exchanged  the  usual  civilities, 
after  which  she  introduced  me  to  the  company. 
I  was  thankful  to  her  that  she  called  me  "  Mr. 
West,"  and  not  "  Young  West ;  "  still  I  heard 
some  one  whisper:  "So!  that  is  Young  West, 
whose  father  had  slept  for  over  a  hundred  years. 
His  discovery  and  resurrection  created  quite  a 
sensation  at  that  time." 

Miss  Horton  asked  me  to  take  lunch  with  her 
at  the  Musicians'  Club  House.  Here  we  spent 
more  than  an   hour   in    pleasant   conversation, 


144  YOUNG  WEST. 

after  which  I  saw  her  home.  At  iKirting,  I 
invited  her  to  come  and  see  me  in  my  circles, 
and  she  cheerfully  accepted  without  hesitation  ; 
I  was  to  call  upon  her  the  next  morning,  take 
her  with  me  to  the  plantation,  and  bring  her 
back  to  the  city  by  the  last  train. 

I  went  to  my  lodgings  in  high  spirits.  To- 
morrow, I  was  to  have  her  all  alone  to  myself, 
and  what  was  more,  I  would  have  a  chance  to 
show  her  what  I  could  do.  Such  is  youth;  we 
think  more  of  the  approving  smile  of  the  woman 
who  fascinates  us,  than  of  the  applause  of  a 
whole  world. 

My  guest  submitted  gracefully  to  my  guid- 
ance. She  listened  attentively  to  the  explana- 
tions which  I  offered  concerning  sights  that  were 
novel  to  her,  or  agiicultural  machines  which  she 
had  never  seen.  I  felt  indeed  proud  to  show 
that  I  was  familiar  with  all  these  devices  and  I 
used,  perhaps  abused,  every  opportunity  to 
exhibit  my  strength  and  skill. 

After  I  had  finished  my  task  for  the  day,  we 
strolled  through  the  fields,  conversing,  as  will 
young  folks,  on  all  kinds  of  topics  for  which  on 
other  occasions,  they  show  not  the  least  interest. 
The  hours  sped  away ;  never  had  evening 
approached  so  quickly  as  on  this  day.  We 
went  to  the  station,  took  the  train,  and  when  we 


YOUNG  WEST.  14r, 

had  arrived  in  the  city  and  at  her  residence,  she 
thanked  me,  saying  that  she  had  spent  a  most 
delightful  day.  She  suggested  another  excur- 
sion to  the  same  place,  in  company  with  some 
mutual  friends.  The  excursion  came  off  to  the 
satisfaction  of  all  participants.  After  that,  she 
would  visit  me  on  the  plantation  whenever 
she  had  a  day  to  spare,  while  I  never  failed 
to  be  present  at  any  of  the  concerts  at  which 
she  played. 

My  term  came  to  a  close  before  hers  and 
I  received  orders  to  leave  and  report  on  a  cer- 
tain day  in  the  city  of  XXX  in  which  one  of 
the  largest  chemical  laboratories  in  the  country 
was  located,  to  take  a  course  in  practical 
chemistry. 

I  had  frequently  parted  from  friends,  but  I 
never  felt  the  pang  which  separation  from  dear 
ones  brings,  to  such  an  extent  as  on  this 
occasion.  I  notified  her  of  my  early  departure 
and  she  agreed  to  accompany  me  to  the  boat 
upon  which  I  was  to  take  passage.  Awaiting 
the  last  signal,  we  were  walking  the  deck ;  I 
felt  sorely  depressed,  and  also  Miss  Ilorton  was 
not  as  talkative  and  cheerful  as  usual.  "  It 
seems  to  me, "  said  I,  "  as  if  I  had  known  you 
many,  many  years  and  yet  it  is  only  a  sliort 
time  since  we  became  acquainted." 


14G  YOUNG  WEST. 

She  nodded  assent. 
I      "  Will  you  forget  the  hours  and  days  which  we 
have  spent  so  pleasantly  together  ?    I  never  will." 

"How  could  I?"  said  she.  "Your  company 
gave  me  great  pleasure,  particularly  because  it 
revealed  to  me  another  side  of  life.  We  artists 
are  a  peculiar  class  of  people,  we  revel  con- 
stantly in  dreams  and  rarely  obtain  a  correct 
view  of  the  real  world  in  which,  after  all,  we 
move.  Your  talk  was  refreshing  to  me,  because 
it  led  me  away  from  the  musical  world,  and  if 
I  am  grateful  to  you  for  one  thing,  it  is  that 
you  have  abstained  from  all  flattery  with  which 
musical  enthusiasts  disgust  us  so  frequently. 
Though  you  never  pretended  to  understand 
mu.sic,  or  to  appreciate  it  as  an  art,  I  always  felt 
when  I  played  to  you  that  it  did  affect  you.  I 
read  in  your  eyes  your  appreciation  of  my  skill, 
and  that  was  a  greater  reward  to  me  than  is 
sometimes  the  applause  of  a  multitude." 

I  asked  her  if  she  would  care  to  hear  from 
me  in  the  future  and  whether  I  might  be  per- 
mitted to  hope  to  hear  from  her  now  and  then. 

She  assented  cordially  to  both  propositions. 

Letters  were  to  be  sent  by  me  to  Atlantis 
to  the  Conservatory  of  Music  in  whose  charge 
she  still  was,  and  she  would  write  to  me  to  the 
College  which  was  directing  my  travels. 


YOUNG  WEST.  147 


The  bell  rang,  we  shook  hands  once  more, 
and  she  left  the  boat,  waited,  however,  on  tlie 
pier,  and  waived  her  liandkerchief  till  the 
vessel   had   left   the   slip. 

She  had  entered  into  my  life  like  an  appari- 
tion. I  wondered  a  little  painfully  if  she  would 
vanish  out  of  it  like  a  dream? 

I  had  never  been  fond  of  writing;  two  hours' 
labor  in  a  field  or  at  a  work-bench,  did  not 
fatigue  me  as  much  as  a  composition  or  an  essay 
that  could  be  finished  in  an  hour.  My  friends 
could  never  complain  that  I  flooded  them  with 
epistles.  They  rather  scolded  me  for  my 
neglect  to  answer  theirs,  and  so  far,  I  had  never 
committed  the  offence  of  contributing  to  any  of 
our  papers.  I  was  perfectly  able  to  render  a 
clear  and  brief  account  of  any  official  mission 
with  which  I  was  intrusted.  I  could  describe 
an  object  accurately  so  that  the  reader  could 
form  a  correct  picture  of  it  for  himself,  but 
otherwise,  I  lacked  literary  abilities. 

Now  my  whole  nature  changed  ;  I  took  quite 
a  delight  in  writing  long  and  frequent  letters 
to  Miss  llorton,  describing  to  her  in  detail,  not 
alone  what  I  did  and  said,  but  even  what  I 
thought.  I  began  to  be  more  careful  in  my 
expressions  and  would  rewrite  letters  several 
times  before  they  suited  me.      I  tried  to  give. 


148  YOUNG  WEST. 

them  a  kind  of  artistic  finish  ;  I  would  dress  the 
most  trivial  observations  in  the  pfettiest  foi  ms 
I  could  think  of,  and  when  it  came  to  medita- 
tions, I  simply  rose  to  the  sublime  ;  at  least  1 
thought  so. 

I  did  not  know  then,  as  I  learned  to  under- 
stand at  a  later  day,  that  every  young  man 
passes  once  in  his  life  through  a  stratum  of 
poetry  which  is  of  larger  or  smaller  dimen- 
sions as  individual  cases  differ,  nor  did  I  know 
at  the  time  that  it  is  Cupid  in  the  disguise  of 
Apollo  who  inspires  us.  Poetry  at  that  age, 
is  a  sure  symptom  of  the  disease  commonly 
known  as  love-sickness.  I  was,  indeed,  in  love, 
though  I  did  not  know  it. 

Miss  Horton  on  her  part,  informed  me  of  her 
travels,  of  her  studies,  and  of  her  successes. 
She  would  mention  the  names  of  other  re- 
nowned musicians,  whose  fame  she  envied  and 
whom  she  tried  to  emulate.  My  classmates 
and  co-workers  were  not  unfrequently  surprised 
to  find  me  so  well  posted  in  matters  of  music, 
for  which  they  never  suspected  me  to  possess 
any  taste.  Had  they  known  the  real  source  of 
my  information  they  would  have  surely  made 
me  the  target  of  their  witticisms,  but  1  preserved 
jealously  my  secret  and  they  traced  my  knowl- 


YOUNG  WEST.  149 


edge  to  a  musical  paper,  to  which  I  had  of  late 
taken  a  fancy  to  subsci'ibe. 

Although  Miss  Horton  was  not  older  than  I 
was  and  although  I  towered  far  above  her  in 
physical  structure,  her  thoughts  were  more 
matured  than  mine.  In  my  ideas  I  was  a  boy 
in  comparison  to  her.  On  many  occasions,  I 
would  ask  her  advice,  which  was  cheerfully 
given  and  which  always  struck  the  nail  right  on 
the  head.  When  I  compared  her  with  the  girls 
whom  I  had  frequent  occasion  to  meet,  it 
seemed  to  me  that  no  other  woman  was  as  per- 
sonally fair  and  attractive  as  she,  although  she 
was  not  beautiful,  but  rather  plain  looking. 

To  have  her  near  me  as  a  companion  all  ray 
life,  I  thought  would  be  the  consummation  of 
earthly  happiness,  as  I  could  rely  much  better 
upon  her  advice  than  upon  that  of  anybody  else. 

All  these  sentiments  had  the  effect  upon  me 
that  I  became  more  sober  and  earnest  in  all  my 
thoughts  and  deeds.  I  beheld  a  goal  before  me, 
after  which  to  reach  and  strive.  I  wanted  to 
do  something  to  distinguish  myself,  in  order 
that  I  might  win  her  confidence,  her  admira- 
tion, her  affection.  I  must  not  merely  do  my 
dutv,  I  must  do  something  more  than  was 
expected  of  me.  All  these  reflections,  which 
charmed   me  during    many  a    silent   hour,  did 


150  YOUNG  WEST. 

not,  therefore,  draw  inj  attention  from  my 
work,  they  rather  made  me  careful  in  rendering 
perfect  whatever  task  was  assigned  to  me.  I 
began  to  yearn  more  than  ever  before  to  enter 
into  practical  life  and  I  looked  forward  with 
great  expectancy  toward  the  day  on  which  my 
education  would  be  finished  and  I  would  begin 
my  life  as  a  member  of  the  Industrial  Army. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Authors  write  not  alone  to  be  understood  by 
their  contemporaries,  they  harbor  the  secret 
hope  that  the  products  of  their  pens  will  give 
pleasure  or  instruction  to  the  remotest  genera- 
tions. Thus  it  is  a  cheerful  dream  of  mine 
that  my  reminiscences  will  be  read  not  alone  by 
the  present  generation,  but  will  survive  and 
reach,  at  least,  our  great  grand-children.  It 
has  happened  within  my  own  life-time  that 
many  changes  in  our  conditions  have  taken 
place,  so  that,  what  I  have  heard  and  seen 
as  a  child,  is  seen  and  heard  no  longer  by 
children  of  the  present  day.  They  are  merely 
informed  to-day  of  conditions  and  usages  that 
have  been  and  are  no  more.  For  example,  I 
can  remind  the  readers  of  my  age  that  in  our 


YOUNG  WEST.  151 


days,  the  annual  Muster  day,  or  to  call  the  thing 
by  the  right  name,  the  annual  Muster-week,  was 
celebrated  during  the  latter  part  of  June,  while 
now,  the  celebration  of  that  national  festival 
takes  place  in  the  first  week  of  September  ;  also 
that  many  forms  of  the  ceremonials  have  been 
remodeled.  It  is  therefore,  not  unreasonable  to 
suspect  that  the  next  century  may  again  change 
the  features  of  that  day  in  such  a  manner  that 
it  will  remain  barely  recognizable  to  a  person  of 
our  age. 

I  preface  this  chapter  with  the  above  lines  to 
justify  its  insertion  into  my  memoirs.  I  am 
aware  of  the  fact  that  the  description  of  the 
scenes  and  incidents  of  Muster- week  is  unneces- 
sary, as  all  persons  above  the  age  of  twenty  have 
passed  through  it,  but  there  may  come  a  time, 
and  for  that  time  I  am  writing,  when  such  a 
pen-picture  may  be  a  revelation  to  prospective 
readers. 

Since  the  time  when  it  became  the  duty  of 
the  government  to  direct  the  efforts  of  the  whole 
nation  in  their  common  fight  against  the  real 
enemies  of  mankind,  hunger,  cold,  disease,  and 
ignorance,  the  functions  of  the  administration 
were  divided  between  a  number  of  departments, 
of  which  each  was  sub  divided  into  divisions  and 
sections.      There   was   the  department  of  food 


152  YOUNG  WEST. 


supply,  sub-divided  into  agriculture,  stock-rais- 
ing, forestry,  fishing.  There  was  the  department 
of  architecture  which  combined  the  various 
building  trades  and  the  construction  and  preser- 
vation of  roads,  canals  and  tunnels.  There  was 
the  department  of  manufacture,  branching  out 
in  the  fabrication  of  all  kind  of  textiles,  into 
tanning,  shoe-making,  and  garment  working. 
We  had  our  department  of  machinery  which 
made  and  operated  all  the  machines  necessary  to 
set  the  great  forces  of  nature  to  work.  Our 
electrical  division  surpassed  anything  the  world 
had  ever  seen.  Another  department  took  care 
of  the  distribution  of  all  products ;  it  supervised 
the  accounts  that  were  kept  with  every  individual 
and  superintended  the  national  stores  and  sam- 
ple-houses. We  had  a  department  that  included 
the  teachers'  profession,  and  all  kinds  of  instruc- 
tors, from  the  nursery  maid  to  the  professor  of 
national  economy,  from  the  horticulturist  to  the 
professor  of  music  or  painting.  The  medical 
profession,  embracing  the  whole  hospital  service 
of  the  nation,  formed  another  department  and 
in  a  similar  manner  all  the  arts  were  gathered 
into  one  department.  I  must  not  forget  to 
mention  the  department  of  transpprtation  as 
one  of  the  most  prominent.  It  had  charge  of 
the   ships,   railroads,    and   aeroplanes,   of    tele- 


YOUNG  WEST.  153 

graphs,  telepliones,  and  the  pneumatic  tubes; 
it  carried  letters,  despatches,  parcels  and  per- 
fc;ons.  In  a  word,  there  was  no  activity  of 
either  tlie  human  mind  or  the  human  hand  that 
had  not  found  its  proper  place  in  one  or  the 
other  division  of  one  or  the  otlier  department. 
For  each  of  these  branches,  we  always  found  the 
requisite  number  of  persons  specially  qualified, 
and  properly  trained  for  their  perfect  execution. 
The  frameis  of  our  social  order  demanded 
of  every  citizen  an  enforced  service  of  three 
years  in  the  Industrial  Army,  before  they 
allowed  him  his  choice  of  occupation.  They 
thought  it  necessary  to  accustom  the  young  man 
or  woman  to  the  discipline  of  the  army,  but  the 
leader  must  not  surmise  that  this  discipline  was 
a  hardship  or  that  in  placing  the  recruits,  the 
arbitrary  will  of  some  otficial  decided.  No 
violinist  was  ever  delegated  in  a  stone  quarry, 
nor  was  a  person,  whose  inclinations  like  mine, 
were  for  manual  work,  ever  assigned  to  a 
position  in  a  counting  room  ;  such  would  have 
been  folly  and  would  have  crippled  the  service. 
As  the  records  of  every  citizen  were  before  a 
commission  of  the  administration  which  had 
charge  of  the  distribution  of  recruits  among  the 
various  guilds,  they  placed  each  manifestation 
of  talent  into  its  proper  place  and  it  occurred 


154  YOUNG  WEST. 

only  in  rare  cases  that  a  person  decided  after- 
wards to  enter  another  profession,  than  the  one 
in  which  he  had  been  placed  at  first.  It  was 
not  on  Muster-day  when  the  commissioners  sent 
us  to  our  various  stations,  several  weeks  before 
that  day,  we  knew  already  into  which  depart- 
ment we  would  be  enrolled.  Muster-week  was 
more  a  season  of  enjoyment  than  an  actual 
registration  for  work. 

The  first  two  days  of  that  week  belonged 
to  the  veterans  of  the  army,  who,  after  a  service 
of  thirty  years,  retired  from  work.  The  two 
following  days  belonged  to  the  so-called  regulars, 
who  after  three  years  of  service,  entered  some 
field  of  work  by  choice.  These  regulars  had, 
however,  arrived  at  their  decision  long  before, 
and  had  filed  their  applications  many  weeks 
ahead.  In  the  Muster- week,  they  received 
merely  the  ratification  of  their  proposals.  The 
next  two  days  were  given  to  the  young  men 
and  women  who  entered  the  Army  for  their  first 
thiee  years'  service.  The  last  day  of  the  week 
was  employed  in  the  distribution  of  tokens  of 
public  acknowledgment  to  such  as  had  rendered 
some  extraordinary  service  to  the  community. 

At  my  time,  regulars  and  recruits  assembled 
in  twenty-five  large  cities  in  the  land.  Owing 
to  the  increase    in    population,    the  number  of 


YOUNG  WEST.  155 

these  places  of  assembly  has  been  raised  now 
to  forty. 

The  most  elaborate  and  complete  provision 
was  made  beforehand  for  the  reception  of  such 
a  vast  concourse  of  people  in  these  towns. 
Eveiything  was  arranged  in  the  most  exact  and 
orderly  fashion.  The  number  of  guests  was 
known  to  those  in  charge  of  the  arrangements 
and  there  were  no  surprises.  Tents  were 
erected  in  the  suburbs  of  these  cities  for  the 
reception  of  the  guests  assigned  to  them  ;  pro- 
visions were  stored  up  for  their  support,  and  all 
sanitary  airangements  were  perfected  to  avoid 
any  danger  of  epidemics.  In  a  word,  every- 
thing was  done  to  prevent  accidents  which  are 
likely  to  happen  when  such  vast  masses  of 
people  are  moved.  The  transportation  service 
of  the  country  was  of  course  taxed  to  its  utmost 
capacity,  and  whenever  a  chief  of  that  depart- 
ment had  succeeded  so  well  that  neither  an 
accident  nor  a  delay  had  occurred,  he  was  sure 
to  win  the  favor  of  the  public  and  to  receive  in 
the  following  year  a  public  recognition  of  some 
kind.  No  wonder,  therefore,  that  this  branch 
of  service  became  perfected  to  the  highest 
degree  possible  to  human  skill,  intelligence  and 
and  forethought. 

It   happened  that,    with  a  number   of   class- 


156  YOUNG  WEST. 

mates,  I  received  orders  to  report  for  muster  at 
Atlantis.  I  say  it  happened,  because  not  neces- 
sarily were  we  always  sent  to  the  places  of  our 
birth  ;  it  was  more  the  exception  than  the  rule 
that  we  entered  the  army  in  the  city  in  which 
we  were  born. 

Without  accident,  we  reached  Atlantis  on  the 
day  previous  to  the  opening  of  the  festivities. 
I  was  assigned  to  a  camp  that  was  pitched  near 
the  primary  school  of  which  I  had  been  an 
inmate,  so  that  I  was  perfectly  familiar  with 
the  vicinity  and  made  myself  useful  by  serving 
as  a  guide  to  a  number  of  my  associates  who 
wanted-  to  look  about  the  neighborhood.  I  at 
once  paid  my  respects  to  my  mother  whom  I 
had  not  seen  for  a  whole  year.  She,  as  well  as 
her  husband,  gave  me  a  most  cordial  welcome. 
She  told  me  of  the  progress  my  brother  and 
sister  were  making  and  chatted  with  me  most 
pleasantly  upon  the  various  topics  of  the  day. 

I  could  not  refrain  from  speaking  to  her  of 
our  mutual  f  i  iend,  Miss  Horton,  and  learned  that 
Violet  had  called  upon  her  and  had  told  her  of 
our  acquaintance.  She  wat?,  at  present,  not  in 
the  city,  having  been  sent  to  enter  the  army  at 
some  other  recruiting  place. 

I  could  not  tell  precisely  whether  or  no  my 
mother  suspected  that  the  high  esteem  which  I 


YOUNG  WEST.  157 

expressed  for  the  young  artist  sprang  from 
other  sentiments  than  the  simple  appreciation 
of  her  art,  but  I  thought  she  questioned  me  in  a 
peculiar  manner  and  dropped  some  extraordi- 
nary remarks  concerning  Miss  Horton.  She  was 
a  wonderful  girl,  she  affirmed,  and  worthy  of 
the  friendship  of  any  young  man,  but  she 
doubted  whether  her  predilections  would  blend 
with  mine  so  that  our  friendship  would  hold  out 
for  a  life  time,  or  whether  she  would  be  able  to 
stimulate  talents  such  as  I  possessed.  "  After 
all,"  she  said,  "  I  should  always  advise  a  young 
man,  who  is  choosing  a  friend  of  the  other  sex, 
to  select  one  who  is  not  of  his  own  age.  You 
will  learn  in  time  that  we  women  mature  more 
quickly,  and  when  of  equal  ages,  we  are  always 
your  seniors.  The  most  enduring  friendships 
between  men  and  women  are  always  found 
between  couples  of  which  the  woman  is  the 
junior  by  several  years." 

I  called  to  renew  upon  new  terms  my  rela- 
tions with  some  of  my  former  teachers,  but 
to  ray  regret,  I  found  but  few  of  them  left  in 
the  old  place.  Mr.  Rogers  had  been  promoted 
to  the  position  of  head  supervisor  of  all  nurs- 
eries of  the  city.  Miss  Bella  had  married.  She 
was  mother  of  several  children  and  expecting 
another  increase  in  her  family  she  had  at  present 


158  YOUNG  WEST. 


withdrawn  from  service  and  was  not  in  town. 
The  husband  of  Mrs.  Howe  had  been  trans- 
ferred to  some  other  school ;  Mrs.  Howe  had, 
therefore,  also  asked  for  a  transfer  to  the  same 
institution,  and  it  had  been  granted.  Mr.  Groce, 
one  of  the  veterans,  was  about  to  leave  the 
service  during  the  week  of  the  Muster. 

I  was  greatly  pleased  to  meet  two  of  my 
former  schoolmates,  Milton  Green  and  Harry. 
Milton  was  to  enter  the  army  as  a  regular,  and 
Harry,  who  was  of  my  age,  as  a  recruit  like 
myself.  I  had  not  seen  them  for  many  years 
and  hardly  would  have  recognized  them  had  we 
not  happened  to  meet  at  Mr.  Groce's  residence. 

We  refreshed  each  other's  memory  in  regard 
to  our  youthful  days  and  remembered  the  visits 
we  had  made  to  the  city  in  one  another's 
company. 

Milton  had  always  been  a  great  reader  ;  he 
had  developed  into  a  literary  man.  His  fust 
three  years  he  had  served  as  an  assistant  teacher 
in  the  same  primary  school  in  which  ho  had 
been  reared,  and  he  was  now  ready  to  choose 
that  occupation  for  good.  He  had  become  an 
expert  in  teaching  the  art  of  reading  and 
writing. 

Harry  had  been  brought  up  in  schools  that 
had  developed  his  economic  talents;  he  waste 


YOUNG  WEST.  159 

serve  now  in  some  branch  of  the  distributing 
department.  Already,  his  knowledge  of  all 
kinds  of  goods  was  astonishing.  He  could  name 
the  price  of  almost  any  article  and  the  cost 
of  its  production. 

The  parade  took  place  near  the  grounds  on 
which  we  were  encamped.  Seats  had  been 
prepared  upon  a  tract  of  land  that  was  set  aside 
for  the  purpose,  and  not  less  than  three  hundred 
thousand  people  filled  the  stalls  of  the  vast 
amphitheatre.  In  the  midst  of  the  arena  was 
erected  a  grand-stand  upon  which  a  delegation 
from  the  various  departments  took  their  seats, 
with  the  mayor  of  the  City  of  Atlantis,  who 
acted  as  their  spokesman.  An  orchestra  of  five 
hundred  musicians  rendered  the  music,  by  the 
strains  of  which  the  battalions  passed  the 
delegation.  Each  guild  formed  their  own  com- 
panies and  carried  their  own  banners,  flags  and 
insignia. 

After  the  veterans  had  passed  in  review,  they 
formed  a  circle  around  the  stand  and  the  mayor 
addressed  them,  expressing  to  them  in  his  enco- 
mium the  thanks  of  the  community  for  the 
faithful  services  which  they  had  given  to  it. 
A  spokesman,  elected  by  the  veterans,  answered 
in  their  behalf,  promising,  that  whenever 
necessity  should  demand  it,  he,  as  well  as  all 


160  YOUNG  WEST. 

his  companions,  would  be  ready  to  render  their 
services  to  the  country  for  an  additional  year. 
All  this,  of  course,  is  a  mere  matter  of  form  ;  it 
is  repeated  every  year,  and,  therefore,  creates 
little  interest.  The  battalions  left  the  grounds, 
amidst  the  cheers  of  the  people  ;  flowers  were 
thrown  to  them  and  the  applause  which  some 
company  received  when  they  passed  the  balco- 
nies, upon  which  members  of  their  guild  were 
seated,  sometimes  drowned  the  music.  The 
women  generally  received  the  heartiest  recogni- 
tion, because  they  had  either  children  of  their 
own  among  the  audience  or  younger  members 
who  had  been  under  their  care  in  previous  years, 
or  people  to  whom  they  had  rendered  favors. 
Some  men  and  women  who,  during  their  years 
of  service,  had  lost  their  strength,  passed  in  the 
procession  on  electrical  vehicles,  each  of  which 
carried  about  fifty  persons.  These  carriages 
were  beautifully  ornamented  with  flowers  and 
called  forth  enthusiastic  cheering.  Several 
hours  were  consumed  by  these  ceremonies,  after 
which  the  people  returned  to  the  city  to  spend 
the  rest  of  the  day  in  jollification. 

The  hippodromes  and  the  theatres  presented 
during  the  week  their  most  popular  productions, 
and  the  places  in  which  the  various  clubs  ex- 
hibited   their    skill    in    athletic    sports     were 


YOUNG  WEST.  ifil 


crowded,  because  special  lionors  were  offered 
on  that  public  occasion  to  tlie  winners.  Lovers 
of  nautical  science  and  sports  swarmed  in  boats 
of  all  descriptions  in  the  harbor  to  witness 
regattas.  The  club-rooms  of  all  the  guilds 
were  filled  with  visitors.  At  night  the  city 
was  illuminated  in  a  most  gorgeous  style  and 
the  sky  ablaze  with  the  display  of  pyroteclr.iics. 
The  following  day  was  a  day  of  rest  and  was 
spent  in  forming  new  acquaintances  and  renew- 
ing former  friendships. 

On    the    third    day,    the    Regulars     passed 
through  similar  exercises. 

While  they  marched  by,  I  detected  a  disparity 
between  the  number  of  men  and  women  of  that 
section.     It  was  not  alone  that  the  columns  of 
men  were  larger  than  those  of  the  women,  but 
the    women    were    apparently    older    than     the 
men,  and  even  among  themselves  they  differed 
in  age  by  many  years,  some  of  them  appearing 
to  be  nearer  to  thirty  than  to  twenty-three. 
Ifow  did  it  happen  ?     I  was  puzzled. 
I    was  never    diffident    in    making    inqiuries 
concerning  everything  that  was  worth  knowing, 
and   so   I   addressed    an   elderly    gentleman   by 
my    side    and    stated    to    him    my    observation. 
He  politely    gave  me  the  desired  information. 
'•  You  know,"  said  he,  '-  that  after  the  three 


162  YOUNG  WEST. 


years  of  enforced  service,  we  are  given  the 
choice  of  an  occupation.  As  far  as  men  are 
concerned,  this  privilege  is  exercised  by  all, 
with  the  exception  of  the  few,  who,  detained 
by  sickness  for  more  than  a  year,  leave  the 
ranks  of  the  recruits  a  year  later.  With 
women,  however,  conditions  are  somewhat  dif- 
ferent. The  law  permits  them  to  marry  after 
one  year's  active  service,  that  is  at  twenty- 
one.  Many,  nay,  the  majority,  get  married  at 
that  time,  and,  becoming  mothers,  they  leave 
the  active  service  for  two  years.  When  they 
reenter  it  they  are  obliged  to  step  into  the 
self-same  place  which  they  had  left.  Again  it 
may  happen  that  the  duties  of  motherhood  call 
them  from  the  service ;  thus  they  will  lose  a 
number  of  years  before  the  three  years  neces- 
sary to  precede  their  choice  of  occupation  are 
absolved.  Only  some  of  the  girls  prefer  to 
serve  first  their  three  years  and  to  marry  after- 
wards ;  hence  it  occurs  that  the  number  of 
Regulars  among  the  women  on  Muster-day  is 
smaller  than  that  of  men  and  that  most  of  them 
have  reached  the  age  of  thirty  when  they  enter 
the  ranks  of  the  Regulars,  choosing  their 
occupation." 

I   thanked    him   for    his    explanation.       The 
riddle    was    solved   in    such    a   manner    that   I 


YOUNG  WEST.  1G3 


wondered  why  I  had  not  found  the  solution 
myself. 

On  the  fifth  day  the  Recruits  appeared 
before  the  magistrate.  That  day  is  the  most 
auspicious  and  draws  the  greatest  crowds. 
Everybody  looks  with  delight  upon  the  young, 
whose  eagerness  to  enter  practical  work  can  be 
read  in  their  eyes.  And  when  they  pass  in 
review  how  beautiful  their  faces,  bloominjj  with 
health!  how  erect  their  forms!  how  elastic 
their  step!  There  are  no  curved  backs  or 
rounded  shoulders,  there  are  no  pale  cheeks, 
no  dim  eyes,  hidden  behind  spectacles;  when 
their  youthful  voices  break  out  in  cheers  how 
they  rend  the  air! 

The  applause  that  greeted  each  of  our  com- 
panies, as  we  marched  by,  was  deafening.  The 
older  people  shed  tears  at  the  sight  of  us,  tears 
of  joy.  In  us  they  had  a  glorious  promise  for 
the  future;  we  young  men  and  women  were  to 
take  up  the  work  where  it  droppsd  fro:n  th-ur 
hands.  As  they  had  worked  for  us  and  sup- 
ported us,  so  they  could  expect  now  to  be 
supported  in  comfort  during  their  declining 
years  by  us  new  workers. 

Many  remembered  with  joy  the  day  when 
they  were  recruits,  but  they  did  not  look  back 
upon  that  time  with  regret.     They  felt  satisfied 


104  YOUNG  WEST. 


that  they  had  fulfilled  their  promises  and  that 
they  had  been  working  or  were  still  working 
for  the  community.  Every  boy  or  girl  was  to 
them  like  a  child  of  their  own.  They  loved 
them  all,  and  their  love  was  not  vitiated  by  that  V 
selfishness  which  in  previous  ages  was  a  com- 
ponent part  of  the  love  which  parents  extended 
to  their  children. 

On  the  last  day  of  the  week,  ribbons  were 
bestowed  upon  those  who  had  made  themselves 
deserving  of  such  honorable  distinction.  The 
reason  why  such  a  recognition  was  rendered  to 
a  person  was  always  announced,  so  that  the 
public  could  clearly  see  that  no  favoritism  was 
possible. 

After  such  a  round  of  ceremonies  and  pleas- 
ures, all  were  exhausted  and  glad  to  reenter  the 
routine  of  daily  life. 

I  had  received  orders  to  remain  in  Atlantis. 
I  was  assigned  to  a  sub-division  of  the  architec- 
tural department,  and  was  to  help  in  building  a 
tunnel  connecting  this  city  with  the  city  of  New 
York.  The  experience  which  I  had  gained  in 
the  Colorado  mines,  my  general  cleverness  in 
the  handling  of  tools,  and  my  robust  health, 
fitted  me  eminently  for  such  work.  I  was 
placed  with  twenty  others  under  the  charge  of 
an    officer,  whose   orders  we   had  to  obey  and 


YOUNG  WEST.  165 

who,  in  his  turn,  received  his  orders  from  a 
superior  officer. 

I  found  rooms  in  a  block  where  most  of  my 
fellow-workers  resided  and  took  a  bed-room  and 
a  sitting-room,  the  latter  a  luxury,  wliich  I 
allowed  myself,  because  I  intended  to  d  >vote 
some  of  my  leisure  to  my  favorite  study, — 
chemistry.  After  a  few  days  the  room  looked 
moi'e  like  a  laboratoiy  than  a  sitting-room. 

f  also  supplied  myself  with  a  suit  of  clothes 
such  as  was  prescribed  for  the  kind  of  work  to 
which  [  was  detailed,  and  the  next  morning  I 
reported  at  headquarters,  for  the  first  time,  to 
serve  my  country. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  official  time  constituting  a  day's  work, 
was,  as  it  is  to-day,  eight  hours,  but  it  is  reduced 
when  less  work  is  needed  or  when  the  labor  is 
disagreeable,  or  finally,  when  the  character  of  a 
task  is  too  exhausting.  Six  hours  constituted, 
therefore,  a  day's  work  for  us.  We  reported  at 
8  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  Avorked  till  2  p.  m., 
which  time  included  a  recess  of  thirty  minutes 
for  refreshment.  At  2  o'clock,  we  were  relieved 
by  another  gang  who  continued  where  we  had 


166  YOUNG  WEST. 

left  off.  Five  days  made  a  week  because  two 
days  out  of  every  seven  weiv  set  aside  for  rest. 
Ill  the  scliools,  Wednesday  and  Saturday  were 
holidays ;  iu  the  army,  the  days  of  rest  were 
interchansable.  Some  sections  would  be  free 
from  work  on  Monday  and  Thursday,  others  on 
Tuesday  and  Friday,  and  some  on  Wednesday 
and  Sunday.  Twice  in  a  year,  once  in  summer 
and  once  in  winter,  two  weeks  of  vacation  were 
granted  but  in  such  a  manner  that  not  all 
workers  of  a  certain  department,  or  division, 
were  out  on  a  holiday  together.  The  public 
work  was  never  allowed  to  stop  and  still  there 
was  not  an  hour,  or  a  day,  or  a  week,  in  which  a 
large  number  of  people  were  not  at  leisure. 
Most  people  spent  their  vacation  in  travel;  of 
their  weekly  holidays,  everyone  disposed  accord- 
ing to  his  tastes.  On  such  days,  we  would  visit 
friends,  who,  like  ourselves,  were  at  leisure,  or 
we  would  visit  the  libraries,  museums  or  places 
of  amusement.  Some  would  devote  their  holi- 
days either  to  stndy  or  to  sports.  There  were 
a  great  many  who  devoted  these  days  to  certain 
intellectual  studies  which  possessed  a  fascination 
for  them,  and  assembled  in  public  lecture  halls 
to  listen  to  instructors  who  discoursed  upon  a 
variety  of  topics.  Every  man  of  ability  who 
believed    that    he    could    be    of   service    to    his 


YOUNG  WEST.  167 

fellow-citizens,  by  discussing  any  particular 
question  or  science,  would  ask  for  the  use  of 
some  hall  for  a  stated  hour  of  a  given  day  and 
announce  his  intention  to  address  the  public  on 
his  chosen  topic.  His  functions  were  honor- 
ary; he  was  not  allowed  to  neglect  any  of  his 
public  duties  on  the  plea  that  he  wished  to 
prepare  for  such  a  discourse.  His  only  I'eward 
consisted  in  the  honor  that  was  shown  to  him 
by  the  crowds  that  flocked  to  hear  him. 
Speakers  who  could  not  fascinate  their  hearers, 
soon  dropped  out,  while  those  who  were  favor- 
ites with  the  public  and  managed  to  keep  their 
audiences,  received  on  Muster-day  the  thanks  of 
the  community  and  not  rarely  the  crimson 
ribbon. 

These  speakers  covered  all  fields  of  knowledge. 
Some  would  discuss  political  matters,  others 
would  lay  before  their  hearers  the  results  of 
historical  researches.  There  were  those  who 
discussed  the  latest  inventions  and  there  weie 
also  some  who  treated  philosophical  problems. 
Each  of  these  speakers  appealed  to  the  taste  of 
certain  classes  and  thus  they  all  had  responsive 
'  constituencies.  We  would  go  to  hear  first  one 
man,  and  then  another,  and  sometimes  we 
would  listen  to  two  or  three  orators  on  the 
same  day. 


1G8  TOUJ^G  WEST. 


If  I  were  to  present  a  picture  of  how  I  spent 
my  weeks,  it  would  be  something  like  this : 
Dressed  in  my  working  suit,  I  reported  a  few 
minutes  before  the  official  hour  at  my  place  of 
work  and  as  that  was  quite  a  distance  from  the 
city,  and  it  took  about  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  to 
reach  it  by  rail,  and  as  the  time  which  we  spent 
in  travel  to  and  fro,  was  not  deducted  from  the 
hours  of  work  I  utilized  that  time  and  perused 
the  daily  papers.  Our  officers  then  assigned 
a  day's  task  to  each  of  us.  If  we  finished  it 
properly  before  the  expiration  of  the  working 
day,  the  time  saved  was  ours ;  if  we  did  not 
finish  the  task  in  time,  we  had  to  stay  until 
the  work  was  completed.  This,  however,  very 
rarely  occurred,  partly  because  no  task  was  ever 
made  unreasonable,  or  could  not  be  completed 
with  ease  within  the  prescribed  time,  partly 
because  there  were  alwa3-s  found  some  who, 
livelier  than  others,  had  finished  their  work  in 
good  season  and  considered  it  their  duty  to  help 
those  who  were  not  as  clever  or  as  quick  as 
they  were. 

On  account  of  ray  knowledge  of  chemistry, 
I  had  to  handle  tlie  explosives,  and  the  danger 
connected  with  such  an  occupation,  made  my 
office  as  honorable  in  the  same  measure  as  it 
was  responsible. 


YOUNG  Wr^ST.  1C9 


While  at  work,  we  would  chat  and  converse 
in  a  most  pleasant  manner;  the  regulars,  who 
had  made  this  kind  of  work  their  profession, 
would  toaeh  us  youngsters  every  trick  by  which 
the  work  could  be  made  easy  and  we  could 
husband  our  forces.  They  would  tell  us  also 
of  the  experiences  of  their  lifetime;  of  books 
they  were  reading,  of  experiments  they  were 
making  during  their  leisure,  of  hobbies  which 
they  rode,  etc.  •  When  lunch-time  arrived,  a 
wagon,  appointed  like  a  dining-car,  drove  up 
and  we  ordered  whatever  we  pleased,  enliven- 
ing the  repast  with  interesting  conversation. 

Returning  to  my  residence,  I  would  take  a 
bath  in  the  natatorium,  dress,  take  dinner 
either  in  the  dining  hall  of  our  square  or  in  one 
of  the  clubs  that  I  had  joined,  or  occasionally 
I  would  accompany  a  friend  upon  his  invitation 
to  his  club.  Dinner  over,  I  would  either  work 
I  in  my  laboratory  or  take  care  of  a  flower-bed  in 
our  public  park,  which,  at  my  request  had  been 
assigned  to  my  charge  or  I  would  witness  a 
game  of  baseball,  if  I  did  not  participate  my- 
self. Towards  evening,  I  would  take  a  ride  on 
my  bicycle,  through  the  streets  of  the  city  and 
the  suburban  territory.  My  evenings  T  spent 
either  with  friends  or  at  concerts  or  at  a 
theatre. 


170  YOUNG  WEST. 


]\Iv  days  of  rest  were  passed  in  a  similar 
manner,  excepting  that  I  remained  in  bed  for  a 
longer  time,  took  my  bath  in  the  morning  and 
attended  one  or  two  of  the  public  lectures  to 
which  I  have  already  referred.  I  was  still 
interested  in  topics  of  the  kind  that  had  stirred 
up  my  curiosity  when  I  was  a  boy,  and  ray 
favorite  orator  was  a  professor  who  spoke  upon 
what  he  called  "  the  religions  of  former  ages 
and  the  ethical  development  of  the  human 
race."  It  was  at  that  time  that  I  began  read, 
ing  with  intense  interest  the  lectures  of  my 
father  and  comparing  his  remarks  with  those  of 
the  learned  professor,  I  became  able  to  formu- 
late a  pretty  correct  picture  of  the  time  in 
which  my  father  lived,  also  of  the  reasons  why 
our  present  social  order  had  so  greatly  surprised 
him. 

I  once  called  upon  the  professor,  who  ex- 
pressed his  delight  in  meeting  "Young  West." 
The  lare  manuscripts  in  my  possession  were  a 
great  help  to  him  in  a  historical  investigation 
which  occupied  him  at  present  and  of  course,  I 
loaned  them  to  him.  His  opinions  in  regard  to 
the  past  and  future  were  about  the  same  as 
those  which  Mr.  Brandon,  our  teacher,  had 
offered  to  us,  only  that  I  understood  their  expo- 
sition   much    better   now    than    I   did   at    that 


YOUNG  WEST.  171 


time.  The  question,  liowever,  was  yet  puzzling 
mn  why  our  ancestors  needed  so  much  and, 
therefore,  believed  so  strongly  in  the  interfer- 
ence of  what  they  called,  the  "Divine  Power" 
in  human  affairs,  and  why  we  in  our  days  can 
live  most  happily  together  without  resorting  to 
all  the  suppositions  or  superstitions  by  which 
they  tried  to  explain  the  order  of  the  universe 
or  to  control  the  passions  and  vicious  habits  of 
the  people.  The  professor  thought  the  solution 
of  the  problem  to  be  very  simple. 

"It  was  their  misfortune,"  said  he,  "that 
they  worked  one  against  the  other,  and  not  one 
for  the  other.  At  their  time  society  did  not 
guarantee  the  existence  and  the  ample  support 
of  every  citizen  ;  hence  they  needed  some  pro- 
tector, who  as  they  presumed,  would  take  spe- 
cial interest  in  their  little  personal  affairs  and 
would  stand  by  them  in  their  warfare  against 
one  another.  To  obtain  this  end,  they  thought 
they  must  show  their  respect  and  deference  to 
that  power ;  hence  worship  and  religious  ser- 
vices were  instituted.  As  their  hopes  were 
rarely  realized,  and  as  despite  their  faith  and  con- 
fidence in  a  divine  protection,  they  were  not 
unfrequently  defeated  by  their  human  enemies 
and  subjected  to  the  will  of  the  victors,  they 
were  obliged  to  pin  their  ultimate  hopes  to  a 


172  YOUNG  WEST. 

life  that  was  to  follow  their  earthly  career,  and 
in  which,  as  they  supposed,  all  wrongs  would 
be  righted,  the  malefactors  be  punished,  and  the 
good  rewarded.  Both  their  faith  in  the  protec- 
tion of  God  and  in  immortality  were  the 
natural  results,  the  logical  consequences  of  a 
social  order  in  which  might  gave  rlght.^^ 

"  How  did  they  ever  happen,"  quoth  I,  "  to 
invent  our  present  system  of  government  or  to 
institute  the  order  of  things  which  we  enjoy 
to-day  ?  " 

"  That  is  a  long  story  to  narrate,"  was  his 
reply,  "  it  took  a  very  long  time  before  even  the 
predictions  of  the  few  were  realized,  whose  logic 
convinced  them  that  by  working  together,  much 
better  results  could  be  reached  for  all  than  by 
the  universal  warfare  in  which  each  member  of 
society  became  the  enemy  of  his  neighbor  or  in 
which  the  personal  interests  of  one  clashed  with 
those  of  the  other.  They  were  not  lacking  in 
intelligence  or  understanding,  not  even  in  good 
will  to  secure  happiness  for  all;  but  they  had 
not  learned  how  to  subdue  all  those  natural  forces 
by  the  aid  of  which  we  create  sufficient  wealth 
and  secure  a  comfortable  existence  for  all. 
Think  only  how  difficult  and  expensive  it  must 
have  been  for  them  to  build  houses  and  to  keep 
them  in  a  clean  and  healthy  condition.     Ali^mi- 


YOUNG  WEST.  173 


num  was  in  their  time  a  most  expensive  metal, 
glass  also  was  costly  and  not  until  waterfalls  and 
the  ebb  and  tide  of  the  ocean  were  put  in  har- 
ness to  produce  electricity  to  be  used  for  the 
purposes  of  heating,  smelting,  lighting,  driving 
all  kinds  of  machines,  and  especially  in  the 
manufacture  of  aluminum,  could  they  take  the 
first  step  that  lead  to  the  present  development. 
I  intended,"  concluded  he,  "  to  deliver  a  course  of 
lectures  on  that  subject  and  will  be  pleased  to 
see  you  among  the  interested." 

The  lectures  proved  indeed  to  be  highly 
instructive,  I  learned  a  great  deal  from  them  and 
so  much  were  they  valued  by  the  public,  that 
they  were  printed  at  the  expense  of  the  com- 
munity and  the  author  was  rewarded  with  the 
crimson  ribbon. 

My  relations  to  my  mother  and  to  Mr.  Park- 
man,  her  husband,  grew  very  intimate  during 
my  stay  in  Atlantis.  Mr.  Parkman  was  a  man 
of  a  very  sympathetic  nature.  The  touch  of  his 
hand  was  so  light  that  a  patient  whom  he  nursed, 
never  felt  it.  His  avocation  as  nurse  had  devel- 
oped in  him  such  a  compassion  with  human 
sufferincr,  that  to  relieve  it  whenever  he  could, 
afforded  him  the  highest  gratification.  He  was 
self-sacrificincr  and  I  mourned  his  loss  as  did  the 
many  who  had   known  him  when   a  few  years 


174  YOUNG  WEST. 


later  he  died  from  an  infectious  disease  which  he 
liad  caught  while  nursing  a  patient,  whose  life 
ho  had  saved  at  the  expense  of  his  own. 

My  sister  Edith  had  grown  up  and  promised 
to  become  a  beautiful  girl ;  she  was  at  High 
school  and  her  talents  ran  in  the  medical  line. 
She  became  afterwards  a  prominent  physician. 
Edward,  ray  younger  brother,  was  in  an  inter- 
mediate school  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  city, 
near  the  seashore.  He  showed  talents  and 
inclinations  for  the  profession  of  a  sailor  and  he 
ended  a  most  remarkable  and  successful  career 
as  captain  of  a  vessel. 

Miss  Horton  still  occupied  my  thoughts,  and 
my  infatuation  was  intensified  by  the  letters 
which  we  faithfully  exchanged.  She  had  been 
assigned  to  an  orchestra  in  one  of  the  provincial 
cities  on  the  Pacific  coast.  I  husbanded,  there- 
fore, my  allowance,  in  order  to  save  the  means 
for  a  trip  to  that  city  during  my  first  vacation. 
I  could  scarcely  await  the  time,  and  when  it 
finally  arrived,  I  secured  passage  upon  an  aero- 
plane. Thirty  hours  after  rising,  we  descended 
at  the  place  of  my  destination.  I  had  not 
informed  her  of  my  proposed  visit,  intending  to 
take  her  by  surprise.  Arriving  at  a  late  hour 
in  the  afternoon,  I  hastened  to  take  a  room  in 
the  nearest  hotel  and  to  secure  a  seat  for  the 


YOUNG  WEST.  175 

concert  in  which  I  knew  she  was  to  appear. 
Since  I  had  seen  her,  she  had  improved  in  exe- 
cution and  in  her  interpretation  of  musical 
works.  I  learned  that  she  was  a  favorite  in  the 
city  and  that  whenever  she  was  the  soloist  of 
the  evening,  the  hall  was  always  crowded. 

Her  astonishment  at  seeing  me  was  indeed 
great  and  she  promised  to  devote  all  her  leisure 
time  to  me  in  recognition  of  the  fact  that  I 
had  travelled  such  a  distance  for  the  sole  pur- 
pose of  renewing  and  strengthening  the  friend- 
ship into  which  we  had  been  drawn  more  than  a 
year  ago.  She  introduced  me  to  her  friends, 
and  my  pleasure  in  meeting  these  people  would 
have  been  much  greater  had  it  not  been  that 
they  would  invariably  ask  the  question :  "  Are 
you  the  same  "  Young  West "  whose  father  was 
recusitated  after  slumbering  a  whole  century  ?  " 

Young  West  ?  Pshaw !  I  was  no  longer  a 
boy,  I  was  a  man,  I  worked  for  the  community 
as  well  as  they  did ;  what  right  had  they  to  call 
me  Young  West  ?  I  feared  that  this  designa- 
tion would  tend  to  belittle  me  in  the  eyes  of 
Miss  Horton. 

Nevertheless,  I  spent  a  most  pleasant  week  in 
her  company.  We  saw  the  sights,  visited  farms 
and  factories,  and  in  all  excursions,  I  was  her 
sole    companion.     I  heard  her  in  concerts  and 


176  YOUNG  WEST. 


felt  proud  of  her  successes  ;  much  more  was  I 
delighted  when  she  played  and  sang  for  me  in 
private.  Still,  there  was  a  certain  something  in 
her  conduct  toward  me  that  did  not  come  up  to 
my  expectations.  She  was  very  kind  to  me  ; 
and  yet  that  kindness  differed  not  much  from 
that  which  one  might  show  to  a  perfect  stranger. 
To  tell  the  truth,  I  had  expected  that  she  would 
feel  for  me  as  I  did  for  her,  that  she  should 
love  me  because  I  had  chanced  to  fall  in  love 
with  her. 

When  I  look  back  upon  the  time  of  my  first 
love;  when  I  remember  the  sensations  which  it 
created  in  my  heart,  I  cannot  help  reflecting 
how  unreasonable  young  people  are,  when  they 
are  in  love.  A  young  man  meets  a  girl  whose 
personal  charms  attract  him  so  that  he  falls 
in  love  with  her;  at  once  he  jumps  to  the 
conclusion,  that  because  he  has  discovered  her 
and  because  he  loves  her,  she  must  reciprocate 
his  feeling.  Any  kindness  which  she  shows 
to  him,  he  interprets  at  once  as  a  token  of 
affection  and  when  his  love  rem  lins  unrequited, 
he  finds  fault  not  with  himself  but  with  her, 
and  accuses  her  of  having  inspired  him  with 
false  hopes,  though  they  were  all  of  his  own 
creation. 

I    had    come    to    visit    Miss    Horton    without 


YOUNG  WEST.  177 


giving  her  notice,  without  consulting  even  her 
wishes  about  it ;  she  knew  that  the  trip  was 
expensive  and  that  I  must  have  denied  myself 
many  other  pleasures  to  indulge  in  such  an  ex- 
travagance. She  felt,  the le fore,  under  obligation 
to  receive  me  with  the  greatest  consideration 
and  kindness.  Would  it  not  have  been  uncivil 
on  her  part  had  she  treated  me  with  coldness  ? 
I,  however,  did  not  place  myself  in  her  position, 
I  had  persuaded  myself,  that  because  I  loved 
her,  by  necessity,  she  must  return  my  love,  and 
this,  I  found  rather  late,  was  a  mistake. 

On  the  day  previous  to  my  departure,  I  ven- 
tured to  complain  of  the  wide  distance  that 
separated  me  from  hei".  "  How  pleasant  it 
would  be  if  we  could  pass  all  oiy:  leisure  time 
in  each  other's  company ! "  I  said  with  a  diffi- 
dent insinuation. 

"  Would  that  not  grow  monotonous  after  a 
while  ?  "  she  asked. 

I  declared  that  to  be  in  her  presence,  to  work 
under  her  eye,  to  counsel  with  her  all  the  days 
of  my  life,  would  make  me  the  happiest  of  men. 
Could  she  not  ask  for  a  transfer  to  Atlantis,  or 
I  would  beg  to  be  transferred  to  her  city  and 
would  she  be  willing  to  marry  me  after  the 
transfer  was  made  ? 

Miss  Horton's  face  first  covered  with  crimson, 


178  YOUNG  WEST. 

then  she  grew  pale,  but  not  for  a  moment  did  she 
lose  her  presence  of  mind  or  that  sweetness  of 
character  which  I  so  much  admired  in  her. 

"  I  must  have  made  a  grave  mistake, "  said 
she,  "but  if  I  have,  I  beg  your  pardon  on  the 
ground  that  I  made  it  unbeknown  to  myself. 
Your  visit  showed  me  that  I  must  have  inspired 
you  with  a  strong  feeling  of  friendship,  but  I 
did  not  suspect  that  your  kindness  towards  me 
was  prompted  by  love.  I  respect  you  as  a 
friend ;  occasionally,  I  prefer  your  company  to 
that  of  other  men,  but  there  are  many  reasons 
why  I  must  decline  the  proposition  which  you 
have  just  made  to  me.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  give 
you  my  reasons  for  rejecting  your  proposal  so 
that  we  may  understand  each  other  and  the 
feeling  of  friendship  which  we  have  conceived 
for  each  other,  be  not  destroyed  by  a  misunder- 
standing." 

"  I  do  not  intend  to  marry  before  1  have 
entered  the  army  as  a  regular ;  I  desire  to  have 
my  choice  of  occupation  at  the  time  when  it  is 
my  privilege  to  choose.  This  is  one  reason  for 
my  refusal." 

"  My  second  reason  is  that  we  two  are  not 
atuned  alike  so  that  marriage  could  bring  us 
that  happiness  which  we  expect  of  it.  I  want  to 
look  up  to  the  man  to  whom  I  shall  give  myself 


YOUNG  WEST.  179 


body  and  soul,  and  although  I  admire  your  good 
qualities,  I  feel  that  I  do  not  find  my  ideal  in 
you,  that  I  would  be  rather  inclined  to  advise 
you  than  to  seek  counsel  from  you.  I  feel  that 
you  would  look  up  to  me  and  although  such  a 
thought  may  flatter  my  vanity,  I  am  sui'e  that 
such  a  relationship  could  not  produce  lasting 
happiness.  That  the  case  stands,  as  it  does,  is 
neither  your  fault  nor  mine ;  we  happen  to  be 
of  the  same  age  and  this  alone  accounts  for  it. 
The  husband  of  my  choice  must  be  my  senior 
by  a  few  years  and  the  wife  that  you  should 
choose  should  be  younger  than  you  are.  I  beg 
you  to  believe  me,  that  I  esteem  you  too  highly 
to  offend  you,  nevertheless,  I  must  tell  you 
frankly,  that  as  you  are,  you  do  not  correspond 
to  the  ideal  that  I  have  formed  of  my  future 
husband.  Let  us,  therefore,  part  the  friends  we 
have  been  since  we  met,  and  preserve  that 
friendship.  Whenever  we  may  meet  again,  let 
us  meet  as  persons  who  understand  each  other 
thoroughly  and  when  you  will  have  reflected 
with  calmness  upon  what  I  said  to  you,  you  will 
find  that  I  was  as  much  concerned  in  your  wel- 
fare as  in  my  own.  You  will  find  some  girl 
more  congenial  to  you  than  I  can  be.  I  hope 
that  in  time  to  come,  you  will  thank  me  for  the 
frankness  with  which  I  have  spoken  and  that 


180  YOUNG  WEST. 


precisely  on  this  account,  we  will  become 
stronger  friends  and  more  reliable  advisors  to 
each  other  than  we  are  now." 

What  could  I  answer  her?  I  was  not  able  to 
utter  one  word. 

She  felt  deeply  my  embarrassment  and  tiied, 
therefore,  to  help  me  overcome  it.  She  turned 
the  conversation  gracefully  upon  other  topics 
and  when  it  was  time  for  me  to  leave,  she 
accompanied  me  to  the  aeroplane.  The  ship 
rose  aiid  she  vanished  from  sight.  With  her, 
vanished  the  most  pleasant  dream  I  ever  had  in 
my  life. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  sting  of  unrequited  love  pains  us  so 
much  more  than  other  disappointments  because 
it  affects  the  most  tender  part  of  our  soul,  our 
love  of  self.  We  expect  that  others  must  love 
us  as  we  love  ourselves,  and  for  no  other  reason 
than  that  we  have  chanced  to  fall  in  love  with 
them.  We  forget  that  our  passions  are  apt  to 
approach  us  disguised  in  the  sober  vestments 
of  friendship,  and  thus  deceived  we  pretend  to 
seek  in  an  object  of  our  affection  the  friend  and 
not  the  mate.     If  it  had  been  solely  the  friend, 


YOUNG  WEST.  181 


whom  I  had  sought  in  Miss  Horton,  the  comrade 
under  whose  eye  I  desired  to  distinguish  myself, 
or  by  whose  counsel  I  wished  to  profit,  why  did 
her  refusal  to  marry  me  cause  me  so  much  pain  ? 
Had  she  refused  to  give  me  her  friendship  ^  On 
the  other  hand,  if  merely  my  passions  had  been 
inflamed  by  her  personal  charms,  was  she  not 
right  to  doubt  my  assertions  of  love  ? 

From  the  day  that  T  had  met  her  and  had  felt 
attracted  by  her  talents,  because  they  were  novel 
to  me,  I  had  made  two  grave  mistakes.  One 
was,  that  I  allowed  her  picture  to  take  entire 
possession  of  my  mind ;  the  other,  that  I  with- 
drew from  the  society  of  other  women  and 
thought  it  treason  even  to  notice  the  good  quali- 
ties of  any  of  them.  Had  I  not  closed  my  eyes 
to  other  girls,  I  would  have  found  that  there  were 
many  better  adapted  to  inspire  me  than  was 
Violet,  whose  artistic  dreams  1  could  not  have 
followed  in  any  event,  and  that  some  of  them 
were  in  sympathy  with  my  plans  and  aspira- 
tions, yea,  even  looked  up  to  me  in  the  same 
r^anner  as  I  did  to  Miss  Horton.  No  matter 
how  hard  I  tried  to  persuade  myself  that  I  had 
not  been  hurt  by  the  answer  which  Violet  made 
to  my  proposal,  I  was  indeed  sorely  wounded, 
and  for  some  time  it  gave  me  an  indefinable, 
secret  pleasure  to  keep  the  wound  open. 


182  YOUNG  WEST. 


However,  T  began  to  adopt  a  different  mode 
of  life.  I  ceased  to  dream,  and  one  good  effect 
of  the  incident  which  I  have  been  describing 
was,  that  I  became  even  more  practical.  If  I 
could  only  succeed  and  distinguish  myself,  could 
I  not  then  expect  that  some  woman  would  find 
her  ideal  in  me?  Might  not  even  Violet 
change  her  mind  yet?  She  did  not  intend  to 
marry  for  several  years ;  there  was  yet  some 
hope  of  winning  her  if  only  I  could  make  my- 
self a  worthy  object  of  her  admiration. 

I  applied  myself  more  diligently  than  ever 
before  to  my  work  so  that  ray  records  drew  the 
attention  of  my  superior  officers  to  me.  Within 
a  year  I  was  made  an  officer,  and  appointed  to 
take  charge  of  a  department  in  a  factory  in 
which  high  explosives  were  made.  That  such 
an  office  was  given  to  a  recruit  and  to  so  young 
a  man  as  was  I,  was  in  itself  an  honor,  because 
it  showed  that  great  confidence  could  be  placed 
in  me.  The  slightest  neglect  of  duty,  the 
slightest  carelessness  on  my  part,  would  have 
imperilled  the  lives  of  a  great  many.  I  appreci- 
ated the  trust  as  well  as  the  responsibilities  with 
which  it  burdened  me.  Though  my  official 
hours  of  work  were  reduced,  I  gave  more  time 
to  the  fulfilment  of  my  duties  than  the  regula- 
tions required,  being  aware  to  what  extent  the 


YOUNG  WEST.  183 


welfare  of  others  was  depending  upon  my  con- 
stant watchfulness. 

Also  in  my  leisure  hours,  I  threw  myself  with 
greater  zeal  upon  a  series  of  expeiimonts  which 
promised  to  end  in  some  valuable  discovery. 
Disappointed  a  hundred  times,  I  did  not  give  up 
the  hope  that  after  all  I  would  find  what  I  was 
seeking.  Neither  did  I  allow  my  official  duties 
nor  my  private  studies  to  keep  me  away  from 
social  intercourse ;  I  sought  and  made  many 
friends  among  both  men  and  women,  and  especi- 
ally did  I  learn  to  value  talents  among  the 
latter. 

My  passions  should  not  blind  me  a  second 
time.  I  found  that  it  was  not  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  enter  into  marital  relationship  to  enjoy 
companionship  with  the  other  sex. 

My  work  in  the  factory  did  not  require  much 
physicial  exertion  and  as  I  needed  physicial 
exercise  I  sought  it  elsewhere.  I  helped  in  the 
labor  of  beautifying  the  parks  or  in  any  other 
work  in  which  I  could  make  myself  useful.  I 
also  applied  myself  more  zealously  than  ever 
before  to  gymnastics  and  took  an  active  part  in 
all  kinds  of  athletic  sports. 

When  the  time  arrived  that  I  should  enter  the 
industrial  army  as  a  regular,  I  began  to  consider 
seriously  what  occupation  to  choose.     Agricul- 


184  YOUNG  WEST. 

ture  had  a  charm  for  me  but  I  was  afraid  it 
would  not  give  me  sufficient  scope  for  my  ambi- 
tion. I  would  have  liked  to  enter  that  division 
of  the  architectural  department  which  undertook 
the  building  of  roads  and  tunnels,  but  although 
only  six  hours  constituted  a  day's  work  in  that 
division,  I  desired  to  obtain  still  greater  freedom 
iu  order  to  pursue  my  chemical  experiments.  I 
perused,  therefore,  carefully  the  official  news- 
papers and  when  one  day,  I  found  that  volun- 
teers were  called  for  to  serve  in  the  sewer 
division,  I  determined  to  offer  my  services.  My 
application  was  accepted  and  after  Muster  day, 
I  was  enrolled  as  a  member  of  that  section. 

Our  system  of  sewerage  had  reached  a  very 
high  degree  of  perfection.  It  had  received  the 
most  careful  consideration  and  no  efforts  had 
been  spared  to  increase  its  excellence,  because 
the  health  of  the  whole  community  depended 
upon  it.  Through  large  tunnels,  into  which 
pipes  led  from  every  house,  all  foul  matter  was 
carried  either  far  into  the  sea  from  the  cities 
near  the  coast,  or  into  the  large  rivers,  from  the 
cities  of  the.  interior.  Whenever  the  tides  could 
be  utilized  to  work  the  drains  automatically,  they 
were  drawn  into  such  service  while  in  the  inte- 
rior pumps,  worked  by  electrical  power,  were 
applied.       Streams    of    electrified   water    were 

\ 


YOUNG  WEST.  185 


injected  not  alone  to  wash  away  every  particle  of 
unclean  matter,  but  to  destroy  also  every  infecti- 
ous germ. 

Our  division  was  employed  in  keeping  this 
vast  system  of  drainage,  composed  of  thousands 
of  miles  of  pipes  and  tunnels  in  good  working 
order,  also  to  augment  the  network  wherever  it 
was  needed.  Our  guild  in  the  city  of  Atlantis 
numbered  more  than  five  thousand  persons  and 
the  service  was  so  well  organized  that  even  a 
sliirht  flaw  in  it  would  be  at  once  detected  and 
remedied. 

We  were  subdivided  into  a  number  of  sec- 
tions ;  we  had  our  engineers,  our  chemists,  our 
tunnel-builders,  our  inspectors,  etc.  Each  com- 
pany stood  under  an  officer  whose  duty  it  was  to 
see  that  none  of  the  men  neglected  his  work. 
These  officers  of  the  various  companies  reported 
to  a  commission  that  supervised  them.  Inas- 
much as  the  sewers  of  the  different  cities  of  a 
province  stood  in  close  connection  with  one 
another,  the  chairmen  of  these  commissions 
reported  to  a  provincial  board,  and  these  offi- 
cers, in  their  turn,  received  orders  from  the 
lu'ad  of  the  division,  who  as  a  member  of  the 
national  administration  was  equal  in  rank  with 
the  heads  of  the  other  divisions  that  composed 
the  department  of  architecture.     The  copipanies 


186  YOUNG  WEST. 


into  which  the  force  of  men,  assigned  to  every 
city,  was  divided,  were  not  equally  strong  in 
numbers;  there  were  fewer  engineers  needed 
than  builders ;  fewer  were  employed  in  the 
pumping  stations  than  in  overlooking  the  drains. 
Each  company,  large  or  small,  was,  nevertheless 
cut  up  in  fifteen  squads,  in  order  that  the 
service  might  run  without  interruption  and  that 
no  member  should  be  obliged  to  work  for  more 
than  four  hours  a  da3\  This  sub-division  pro- 
vided also  for  two  days  of  rest  out  of  seven,  and 
besides  for  a  vacation  of  four  weeks  in  a  year  to 
be  enjoyed  either  at  one  time,  or  twice,  of  a 
fortnight's  duration.  It  allowed  in  addition  for 
absence  on  account  of  sickness. 

When  I  entered  this  new  field  of  occupation, 
I  was  placed,  as  is  the  custom,  at  the  lowest 
round  of  the  ladder  ;  I  became  a  roundsman.  I 
had  to  acquaint  myself  with  the  situation  of  all 
the  drains  and  the  melhods  by  which  a  defect 
was  to  be  discovered.  I  was  then  promoted  to 
the  next  grade  and  being  quick  to  observe  and 
to  learn,  I  rose  from  step  to  step,  filled  various 
positions  as  officer,  and  after  five  years  of  ser- 
vice, I  found  myself  appointed  to  the  office  of 
superintendent  of  the  sewerage  of  Atlantis. 

As  such,  I  served  for  ten  years.  I  will  not 
tire  tlJe  reader  narrating  to  him  all  the  little 


YOUNG  WEST.  187 


incidents  of  my  official  carcMM-,  T  may,  however, 
state  without  any  lack  of  modesty,  that  when- 
ever I  was   promoted,   such    was    not   alone    a 
mark  of  recognition  of  faithful  services  rendered, 
but  it  was  also  due  to  the  recommendations  of 
my  companions.     Mine  was  the  liappy  disposi- 
tion to   make    myself  liked    by    all    men    with 
whom  I  was  associated.     I  helped  them  wherever 
I  found  them  lacking,  and  as  an  officer  I  always 
considered  it  my  duty  to  help  bear  the  burden 
of  those    who   were  under    my    charge.      They 
never  found  me  unwilling  to  do  the  same  work 
that  I  would  order  them  to  do.     If  a  task  was  of 
a   dangerous    nature,   they   found   me  ready   to 
lead   them,  and  even   during   the   years   of  my 
superintendentship,  I    was   seen    many  a   time 
swinging  the  pickaxe,  handling  a  shovel,  setting 
off  an  explosive  or  whatever  work    was  to  be 
douo    by    some    one    in    the    exigency    of   the 
moment.       Moreover,    whenever    the    hours    of 
official  duty  were  passed,  I  treated  my  fellow- 
workers   as    friends;     the    recruit    or    regular, 
who  had  served  but   one   day,   was  treated   by 
me    like  the    veteran    in    service,  and   while    I 
required    the    strictest    obedience    dtuiu"-    the 
hours  of  work,  in  private  life,  I  ignored  all  offi- 
cial differences.     It  wouUl  have   been  bad  form 
to   carry    official    life    into    private    life.       We 


188  YOUNG  WEST. 

respected  a  man  for  his  faithful  application  to 
work,  for  his  intelligence,  for  the  neatness  with 
which  he  completed  a  task  and  for  his  cheerful 
willingness  to  do  more  than  was  his  duty  or 
to  take  upon  himself  a  task  which  one  of  his 
co-workers,  on  account  of  conditions  which  he 
was  unable  to  control,  could  not  fulfill. 

I  did  not  remain  a  bachelor,  partly  because  I 
craved  the  companionship  of  the  other  sex, 
partly  because  public  opinion  considered  it  dis- 
graceful to  remain  unmarried.  We  believed  it 
to  be  one  of  the  duties  of  good  citizenship  to 
increase  the  population,  and  both  men  and 
women  who  did  not  marry  during  the  years 
when  it  was  proper  to  seek  an  alliance,  were 
looked  upon  with  distrust, 

I  am  glad  to  say  that  this  healthy  sentiment 
has  not  abated  and  the  fear  that  conditions  as 
they  prevailed  during  my  father's  time,  would 
return,  does  not  trouble  us.  From  his  lectures, 
I  learned,  that  at  his  time  a  great  many  people 
preferred  to  remain  single  for  fear  that  they 
would  not  be  able  to  support  their  children  or 
to  rear  them  in  a  proper  manner. 

I  found  a  worthy  companion  among  the  other 
sex,  one  who  brightened  my  life  with  the  sun- 
shine of  her  affection,  who  became  a  source  of 
inspiration  to  me  and    who    stimulated   me    to 


YOUNG  WEST.  189 

work  for  tlie  noblest  ends.  Do  not  imagine, 
fair  reader,  that  I  succeeded  in  winning,  after 
all,  the  object  of  my  first  love;  no,  Miss  Horton 
had  found  her  ideal  in  a  fellow-artist ;  she  had 
married  a  sculptor.  T  found  my  wife,  or  rather, 
she  found  me,  in  a  way  that  was  not  at  all 
romantic. 

During  the  time  in  which  I  served  as  an 
officer  of  inferior  rank,  in  one  of  the  sections  of 
my  division,  it  was  a  part  of  my  duties  to  order 
the  supplies  required  in  the  service  by  our 
division.  The  chemicals,  mostly  disinfectants, 
the  tools,  the  rubber  suits,  with  which  the  men 
were  furnished  at  public  expense,  we  had  to 
order  from  the  national  stores  and  they  were 
properly  debited  to  our  department.  Almost 
every  day,  I  had,  therefore,  to  call  at  the  supply 
office,  enter  our  orders  and  give  receipts  for 
goods  delivered.  I  met  here  a  young  woman 
who  had  just  entered  the  service  as  a  recruit. 
Emily  Warren  was  not  a  total  sti-anger  to  me  ; 
I  had  met  her  before  in  the  same  intermediate 
school  of  which  ray  sister  Edith  was  a  graduate. 
She  had  shown  literary  talents  similar  to  those 
of  my  sister,  but  while  Edith's  gifts  landed  her 
in  the  medical  profession,  Emily's  gifts  indicated 
administrative  abilities.  Sh  ^  graduated  later 
from  a  high  school  and  from  a  college  in   which 


190  YOUNG  WEST. 

her  peculiar  talents  had  been  developed  and  as 
was  expected,  she  was  assigned  to  one  of  the 
many  bureaus,  established  for  the  transaction  of 
the  national  business.  Her  hours  of  daily  work 
were  eight,  because  her  work  was  not  exhaust- 
ing ;  she  had  to  keep  certain  books  and  to  send 
all  the  requisitions  filed  by  the  various  depart- 
ments to  a  clerk  whose  duty  it  was  to  execute 
them. 

She  resided  not  very  far  from  where  I  had 
taken  rooms  and  as  my  hours  of  duty  fell  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  day,  and  I  made  it  a  practice 
to  file  my  orders  on  my  way  home,  it  happened 
sometimes  that  after  receiving  and  entering  my 
papers,  she  would  leave  her  desk  and  walk 
home  with  me.  Our  companionship  soon  devel- 
oped into  the  most  cordial  friendship,  and  our 
accidental  walks  soon  became  a  custom ;  I 
called  for  her  every  evening  to  see  her  home. 

As  we  had  the  same  days  of  rest,  it  gave  me 
exceeding  pleasure  to  accompany  her  to  lectures 
that  interested  her.  Well  versed  in  literature, 
she  kept  herself  posted  on  all  the  latest  liter- 
ary productions.  She  was  besides  a  brilliant 
conversationalist  and  had  a  way  of  imparting 
knowh  dge  without  assuming  the  appearance  of 
an  instructor.  Many  a  time  would  she  drop 
hints  how  I  could  facilitate  my  work  by  bring- 


YOUNG  WEST.  191 

ing  system  into  it,  and  whenever  I  made  use  of 
such  advice,  I  found  that  she  was  right  and  that 
I  succeeded  so  much  the  better  for  having 
followed  it.  Her  interest  in  my  chemical  ex- 
periments was  so  great  that  she  would  stand  for 
hours  by  my  side  in  ray  laboratory,  watching 
my  efforts,  occasionally  offering  a'  suggestion 
how  a  thing  might  be  done  more  expeditiously. 
Also  in  other  respects,  I  found  her  of  great 
help  to  me  ;  she  understood  better  than  I  did 
how  to  select  in  the  sample  rooms  the  articles 
which  are  needed  for  personal  comfort,  and  thus 
she  would  advise  me  what  grade  of  cloth  would 
be  most  suitable  for  me,  or  what  style  and  shade 
would  be  most  becoming  to  me.  I  had  learned 
to  manage  my  expenditures  in  such  a  manner 
that  I  never  overdrew  my  accounts,  and  quite 
to  the  contrary,  would  return  to  the  treasury  at 
the  end  of  every  half  year  am  wnexpended  amount, 
but  I  was  not  an  expert  in  managing  my  affairs 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  able  to  indulge  in  a 
luxury  without  sacrificing  some  comfort  in 
another  quarter.  She  had  a  way  of  striking 
the  right  balance  and  not  unfre([uently  would  she 
thus  help  me  working  out  my  estimates.  T  dis- 
covered, that,  whenever  she  ordered  a  dinner 
from  a  bill  of  fare,  I  received  a  better  meal  at 
less  expense  than  when  I  ordered  it  myself.     I 


192  YOUNG  WEST. 


made  it,  therefore,  a  practice  to  take  my  dinners 
with  her  at  the  same  place  and  at  the  same 
hour,  whenever  that  was  possible. 

When  once  I  spent  my  vacation  travelling, 
strange  to  say,  I  felt  that  I  missed  her  com- 
pany. I  did  not  enjoy  that  trip  as  I  did  previ- 
ous ones  and  when  my  time  to  recuperate  again 
approached,  I  told  her  I  should  not  leave  the 
city  but  would  rather  spend  my  vacation  at 
home,  unless  she  could  arrange  to  accompany 
me.  The  idea  of  proposing  marriage  to  her  had 
many  times  risen  in  my  mind,  but  my  former 
experience  had  made  me  somewhat  timid  and 
over-cautious  She  had  not  yet  entered  the 
army  as  a  regular ;  would  she  not,  like  Violet, 
object  to  marital  connections  before  that  time? 

One  evening  we  took  a  spin  on  our  wheels 
through  the  suburbs  and  rested  for  a  while  on  a 
bench  in  one  of  the  large  parks  that  girded  the 
city.  The  time  for  my  vacation  was  again 
approaching  and  the  conversation  turned  upon 
my  plans.  She  could  not  go  with  me.  Her 
turn  came  a  few  weeks  later  and  she  had  not 
ji'.t  found  anyone  who  was  ready  to  exchange 
with  her. 

"Is  it  not  rather  a  foolish  notion  of  yours, 
said  she,  to  imagine  you  could  not  enjoy  your- 
self without  me?      What  am  I  to  you?       We 


YOUNG  WEST.  T.i:? 

have  been  friends  for  some  time,  and  good 
friends  at  that,  but  will  the  time  not  com(^ 
when  we  will  be  separated  for  more  than  two 
weeks,  maybe  forever?" 

I  felt  irritated  and,  with  a  slight  touch  of 
anger  in  my  voice,  I  said :  "  It  seems  that  you 
could  miss  my  company  without  discomfoi-t;  for 
all  I  know,  you  may  be  glad  to  get  rid  of  me  for 
a  fortnight !  " 

She  looked  at  me  with  astonishment,  and  after 
a  pause,  she  asked :  "  Do  you  yourself  believe 
what  you  have  said  just  now?  You  do 
know  that  I  will  miss  you,  and  why  should  I 
deny  it?  I  dread  the  time  of  your  absence. 
Let  us  come  to  an  understanding.  I  have  been 
aware  for  quite  a  time  that  I  have  found  in  you 
a  congenial  companion  in  whom  I  could  place  my 
fullest  confidence  and  trust,  and  quite  frequently 
I  have  questioned  myself  whether  separation 
would  not  cast  a  shadow  over  m}^  life.  If,  then, 
it  is  true  that  you  cannot  enjoy  yourself  for 
two  weeks  without  me,  would  it  not  be  advis- 
able for  us  to  make  a  covenant  of  friendship 
that  would  last  forever?" 

"And  do  you  indeed  love  me  enough  to 
become  my  wife?"  cried  I ;  "  may  I  assume  that 
you  think  me  the  ideal  companion,  which,  as  I 
am  aware,  every  woman  is  seeking?  " 


194  YOUI^G  WEST. 

She  did  not  answer,  but  blushingly  she  bid 
her  head  on  my  breast.  I  threw  ray  arms 
around  her  and  a  kiss  sealed  the  contract,  which, 
afterwards  conchided,  I  have  never  for  one 
moment  repented.  We  arose  from  our  seats, 
and,  returning  to  the  city,  we  discussed  the 
particulars  of  our  prospective  union. 

The  very  next  day  we  went  to  the  registration 
office.  The  degree  of  relationship  in  which  a 
couple  who  wished  to  get  mariied  might  pos- 
sibly stand  was  to  be  first  ascertained,  to  pre- 
vent alliances  between  too  near  relatives.  We 
were  not  even  distantly  related  and  a  license 
was  gianted.  Our  marriage  intentions  were 
published  and  my  vacation  was  to  be  our  honey- 
moon. 

We  invited  a  small  number  of  f i  lends  and  our 
nearest  relatives  to  witness  the  final  ceremonies 
of  registration.  At  the  appointed  hour,  we  all 
met  at  the  office ;  Emily  and  I  made  our  decla- 
rations, and  we  were  pronounced  man  and  wife 
by  the  registering  clerk. 

Our  friends  rendered  their  felicitations  to  us 
and  a  repast,  which  we  partook  with  our  guests 
in  the  club-room  of  my  guild,  increased  this 
day's  happiness.  My  wife  had  previously 
resigned  her  lodgings,  and  I  had  managed  to 
secure  rooms  for  her   adjoining  to  mine.     Her 


YOUNG  WEST.  1D5 


parents,  who  resided  in  a  neighboring  city,  had 
come  to  witness  the  ceremonies,  and  her  mother, 
as  well  as  mine,  introduced  Emily  into  lier  new 
quarters. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  novelists  of  the  mediLOval  times,  as  far 
as  the  twentieth  century,  were  in  the  habit  of 
describing  the  adventures,  fortunes,  and  mis- 
fortunes of  some  young  man  or  woman  until 
they  had  brought  their  hero  or  heroine  safely 
into  the  bridal  chamber.  That  event  closed 
their  story,  as  if  marriage,  in  fact,  had  ended  all, 
and  as  if  the  life  of  a  noble,  ambitious  and 
enterprising  person  became  so  insipid  after  mar- 
riage that  it  could  offer  no  further  incident 
worthy  to  be  narrated.  How  queer  !  From  my 
own  experience,  and  from  that  of  my  many 
friends  whom  I  have  consulted  in  the  matter,  I 
have  learned  that  the  real  life  of  a  man  begins 
after  marriage,  and  that  the  years  preceding  it 
are  merely  preparatory  to  it.  How  insignificant 
is  all  that  I  did  or  experienced  previous  to  my 
marriage,  when  I  compare  it  with  the  aspira- 
tions and  ambitions  which  filled  my  soul  after  I 
had   become   a   husband   and    a    father !       My 


19G  YOUNG  WEST. 


efforts  had  so  far  been  aimless ;  now,  I  did  all 
for  a  settled  purpose.  The  union  with  a  part- 
ner chosen  from  the  other  sex  had  completed 
my  being  and  rounded  all  my  activities.  If  I 
ever  hail  been  careful  in  my  work,  if  I  ever  had 
fulfilled  a  task  assigned  to  me  with  promptness 
and  accuracy,  now  I  was  still  more  careful  and 
my  zeal  for  work  increased.  I  had  been 
ambitious,  I  had  been  proud  of  whatever  honor- 
able distinction  was  conferred  upon  me ;  the 
studies  which  I  had  pursued  had  been  under- 
taken in  the  hope  of  winning  further  honors; 
but  I  owe  it  to  my  wife,  to  her  inspiration  as 
well  as  to  her  coiiperation,  that  I  began  to  reach 
after  the  ultimate  goal,  toward  which  the  eye  of 
every  ambitious  citizen  is  directed,  namely, — 
the  presidency.  Marriage  had  made  a  man  of 
me ;  it  had  awakened  in  me  a  new  and  higher 
consciousness. 

My  wife  was  indeed  a  friend,  a  companion,  a 
counsellor  to  me.  We  easily  arranged  so  to 
exchange  with  others  that  our  hours  of  leisure, 
our  days  of  rest,  and  our  vacations  coincided. 
What  happy  hours  we  passed  when  we  returned 
from  work !  We  would  study  together ;  her 
taste  for  literary  pursuits  remained  not  without 
influence  upon  me  ;  she  introduced  me  somewhat 
into  the  great  world  of   thought   in  which  I  had 


YOUNG  WEST.  197 

been  a  strangei*  heretofore.  My  inclinations  for 
practical  work,  on  the  other  hand,  brought  my 
wife  back  to  the  realities  of  life  whenever  her 
dioauis  would  carry  her  too  far. 

She  would  give  to  my  reports  a  polish  which 
made  them  interesting  reading,  dry  as  were 
sometimes  the  facts  of  which  they  treated,  and 
thus  the  attention  of  my  superiors  was  drawn 
to  them.  "  What  a  brilliant  writer  Young 
West  has  grown  to  be, "  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners under  whom  I  stood  would  say  ;  "  it 
breaks  the  monotony  of  my  work  to  read  his 
reports ;  compared  with  the  rest,  they  are  re- 
freshing;  they  are  like  an  oasis  in  the  desert; 
one  would  hardly  believe  that  he  is  the  autlior  ; 
he  is  such  a  matter-of-fact  man. "  Thus  most 
of  my  promotions  wore  due  to  this  aid  which 
Emily  allorded  me. 

Our  marital  felicity  was  increased,  when,  one 
day,  she  whispered  into  my  ear  that  she  ex- 
pected to  become  a  mother ;  and  two  months 
later  she  sought  the  release  from  service  to 
which  her  condition  entitled  her. 

Motherhood  is  highly  honored  by  us  and  the 
nation  does  not  begrudge  a  woman  her  support 
during  the  time  in  which  slie  withdraws  from 
the  army  in  order  to  devote  herself  to  the  holiest 
(if  all  her  obligations,  to  give  to  the  community 


198  YOUNG  WEST. 

citizens  who  will  take  up  the  work  where  it 
must  pass  from  our  hands. 

Relieved  from  all  care,  my  wife  devoted  now 
her  whole  attention  to  the  duties  which  a  mother 
owes  to  a  child  in  its  prenatal  state.  She 
turned  her  mind  to  the  noblest  thoughts  and 
advanced  the  healthful  development  of  the  yet 
unborn  by  appropriate  physical  exercises.  She 
would  visit  the  museums  and  study  the  features 
and  forms  of  statues  or  pictures  that  the  high- 
est art  had  produced. 

The  last  few  weeks  were  weeks  of  anxiety  to 
me.  In  expectation  of  the  coming  event,  she 
had  secured  a  room  in  one  of  the  hospitals 
appointed  and  ari*anged  for  these  daily  occur- 
rences. The  rules  of  this  institution  permitted 
me  to  see  her  only  once  a  day,  and  then  only  for 
a  short  time. 

One  morning,  I  was  notified  by  despatch  that 
I  had  a  son.  My  heart  was  thrilled  with  joy;  I 
hastened  to  see  mother  and  child,  who  were 
both  doing  well.  He  was  a  beautiful  child, 
sound  and  strong;  at  least  we  believed  there 
was  never  another  child  born  like  him.  After 
a  few  weeks,  Emily  returned  to  her  rooms  to 
devote  her  care  solely  to  the  physical  develop- 
ment of  her  babe.  The  small  additional  expen- 
ditures which  the  support  of  a  child  demanded. 


YOUNG  WEST.  199 

were  covered  by  the  usual  allowance  which  the 
nation  sets  aside  for  every  child.  The  birth 
had  been  registered  by  the  hospital  authorities, 
and  as  we  had  agreed  beforehand  upon  a  name 
in  case  the  child  should  be  a  boy,  he  was  entered 
in  the  records  as  "  Leete  West,"  in  memory  of 
my  grandfather. 

I  received  many  congratulations  from  my 
friends  and  the  only  disagreeable  feature  of 
these  days  of  joy  was  that  they  would  taliv  in 
the  clubs  of  the  news  that  ''  Young  West  had 
been  presented  by  his  wife  with  a  boy  I  "  or 
"  What  a  happy  man  Young  West  is  since  he  has 
become  a  father  ;  "  or  "  It  was  quite  appropriate 
that  Young  West  should  name  his  boy  after 
his  grandfather. "  Always  and  ever  "  Young 
West !  "  My  wife  laughed  whenever  I  felt 
irritated  by  that  nickname  and  said  that  she 
preferred  me  to  be  "  Young  West."  When  she 
agreed  to  mai-ry  me,  she  said  she  was  well 
aware  that  she  married  "  Young  West,"  and  as 
long  as  she  did  not  find  fault  with  the  name, 
why  should  I  ? 

A  babe  is  an  amusing  toy;   a  kind  of  play- 
thing for  the  diversion  of  parents.      We  enjoyed 
playing  with  the  child  and  watching  the  grad 
ual  awakening  of  his  consciousness.       His  first 
smile  delighted  us;  when  he  cut  his  first  tooth, 


200  YOUNG  WEST. 


we  felt  proud  ;  when  he  made  the  first  attempts 
to  walk,  we  invited  our  friends  to  behold  the 
wonder. 

The  time,  however,  came  when  we  observed 
that  excepting  the  instinct  which  teaches  every 
living  being  how  to  rear  its  young  ones,  we  did 
not  possess  sufficient  knowledge  to  develop  the 
child  physically  and  mentally  in  a  rational, 
systematic  manner.  We  reproached  ourselves 
for  being  over-indulgent  with  him,  and  we 
began  to  fear  that  we  might  do  him  more  harm 
by  our  affection  than  good.  Therefore,  at  the 
proper  time,  we  brought  him  to  the  nursery  of 
our  square. 

In  one  of  his  lectures,  my  father  informed  his 
audience  that  in  his  days  the  care  of  children 
was  left  entirely  to  the  parents ;  that  besides 
their  daily  work  they  had  to  attend  to  them, 
no  matter  whether  they  had  made  a  study  of 
child  nature  or  not,  and  that  it  would  have  been 
considered  a  cruelty  to  take  a  child  away  from 
his  parents.  "  Only  in  the  most  ancient  times," 
he  said,  "  did  a  state  flourish  in  Greece  that 
considered  the  child  the  property  of  the  com- 
monwealth and  removed  it  from  parental  influ- 
ences ;  but,"  he  continued,  "the  civilization  of 
my  days  would  have  been  shocked  at  such  an 
interference  with  parental  rights." 


YOUNG  WEST.  201 

How  queer  all  that  sounds  I  If  a  couple 
could  now  be  found  who  would  wish  to  assume 
the  grave  responsibilities  and  undertake  to  edu- 
cate their  children,  the  nation  would  gladly 
grant  them  permission  to  do  so;  but  it  is 
because  we  love  our  children  so  well  that  we 
give  them  in  charge  of  persons  who  have  made 
a  study  of  child  nature  and  hence  are  competent 
to  develop  them  properly,  letting  alone  that 
parental  instincts  blind  them  to  their  evil  traits. 
How  can  one  remove  a  defect  if  he  does  not  see 
it?  How  could  I  have  been  expected  to  unfold 
my  child's  mind  when  I  understood  absolutely 
nothing  about  education?  My  judgment  was 
good  in  my  line  of  work,  I  could  advise  how  to 
build  a  tunnel,  how  to  set  off  an  explosive.  I 
was  familar  with  the  construction  of  a  pump,  I 
knew  how  to  divide  a  certain  task  among  a 
number  of  men,  but  I  knew  nothing  about  the 
treatment  of  a  child,  nothing  about  the  food 
that  was  best  for  him,  nothing  about  exercises 
that  would  best  develop  his  physical  system. 
Or,  how  could  we  have  found  the  time  to  watch 
the  child?  Even  if  we  would  have  given  all 
our  leisure  hours  to  our  boy,  who  would  have 
looked  after  him  while  we  were  at  work  ?  It 
seems  to  me  that  it  was  selfish  in  the  highest 
degree  to  deny  to  a  child  the  intelligent  education 


202  YOUNG  WEST. 


which  the  country  alone  can  give  the  young 
citizen,  for  no  other  reason  than  that  it  pleases 
a  parent  to  toy  with  his  child  and  to  be  amused 
by  his  youthful  pranks.  The  fact  of  parent- 
hood does  not  give  us  the  right  to  interfere  with 
the  real  welfare  of  a  child*.  Again,  I  repeat  it, 
because  we  do  love  our  children  we  entrust 
them  to  the  care  of  talented  educators,  and  we 
spare  no  efforts  to  make  our  educational  institu- 
tions, the  lowest  as  well  as  the  highest,  as 
perfect  as  we  can  possibly  make  them. 

I  passed  through  the  same  parental  experi- 
ences five  times.  We  had  three  boys  in  all,  and 
two  girls. 

In  the  meantime  two  things  happened  to 
foreshadow  the  most  important  events  in  my 
life.  One  was  that  I  received  promotion  into 
the  board  of  commissioners  who  superintended 
the  whole  provincial  system  of  sewerage,  and 
that  after  two  years  of  strvice  I  was  chosen  by 
my  colleagues  to  act  as  their  chairman,  which 
othce  placed  me  at  the  head  of  the  division. 
The  other  was  that  my  researches  and  experi- 
ments were  finally  crowned  with  success.  I  had 
discovered  a  chemical  process  by  which  offal 
could  be  not  only  deodorized,  but  which  would 
destroy   also  every    infectious    germ    contained 


3 


YOUNG  WEST.  203 

therein.  I  liad  been  led  to  these  studies  and 
experiments  almost  by  accident. 

During  my  years  of  education  in  the  high 
school  and  the  college,  I  had  been  sent  at 
various  times  to  large  farms,  on  account  of  my 
love  for  agricultural  labois,  and  it  was  there 
that  I  observed  how  the  land  failed  many  a  time 
to  give  proper  returns,  lacking  proper  fertili7;a- 
tion.  Chemical  compounds  were  used,  it  is 
true,  to  stimulate  the  soil,  but  never  was 
returned  to  the  acre  fully  what  had  been  taken 
from  it.  It  also  happened  accidentally  that, 
reading  one  of  my  father's  lectures,  I  learned 
that  one  of  the  great  chemists  of  his  time  had 
made  a  similar  observation.  I  searched  the 
libraries  for  his  works,  found  them,  studied  them 
and  became  more  strongly  convinced  that  in 
course  of  time  the  productive  forces  of  the 
earth  must  become  exhausted  unless  we  return 
to  the  land  every  year  as  much  as  we  draw 
from  it. 

We  had  taken  a  great  deal  of  pride  in  our 
system  of  sewerage  ;  we  had  perfected  it  during 
the  last  half  century  to  such  a  degree  that  it 
became  almost  impossible  to  further  improve  it. 
It  had  indeed  answered  all  purposes.  It  had 
saved  labor  and  prevented  sicknesses.  One 
important  thing,  however,  was  overlooked.     Our 


204  YOUNG  WEST. 


large  cities  sent  annually  to  the  unfathomable 
depths  of  the  ocean  the  very  strength  of  the 
earth,  the  very  material  out  of  which  nature 
produces  our  support. 

How  could  this  waste  be  prevented?  How 
could  the  refuse  that  accumulated  in  our  vast 
centres  of  population  be  returned  to  the  ground 
from  which  it  originally  came,  without  imposing 
unpleasant  tasks  upon  a  number  of  citizens,  or 
exposing  the  community  to  the  dangers  of 
infectious  diseases  ? 

This  was  the  problem  which  I  undertook  to 
solve,  and  after  years  of  patient  labor,  after 
many  disappointments,  which  sometimes  discour- 
aged me  to  such  an  extent  that  I  was  inclined  to 
drop  the  whole  matter  in  despair,  I  finally 
succeeded,  thanks  to  the  encouragement  of  my 
wife,  who  would  always  tell  me  not  to  give  up 
but  to  try  again. 

I  began  now  to  write  a  series  of  articles  set- 
ting forth  my  discoveries  and  showing  how  they 
could  be  applied  advantageously.  When  I  say 
I  began  to  write  these  essays,  I  utter  but  a  half- 
truth  ;  I  supplied  merely  the  arguments,  the 
facts,  the  professional  terms,  while  my  wife 
wrote  the  composition  in  the  lucid  and  interest- 
ing style  of  which  she  was  master. 

These  publications  created  quite  a  sensation. 


YOUNG  WEST.  203 

They  had  appeared  originally  in  a  periodical  of 
our  guild,  but  they  were  at  once  copied  by  the 
agriculturists,  chemists,  and  all  such  departments 
as  were  professionally  interested  in  them. 
They  met,  howevi-r,  with  greater  oppo.itiou 
than  I  expected,  and  capable  writers  undertook 
to  answer  my  arguments.  Thus  a  fierce  contro- 
versy arose.  Some  would  accept  my  sugges- 
tions in  part ;  others  would  throw  them  aside  in 
toto  as  Utopian.  Some  would  praise  "  Young 
West "  for  his  sagacity  and  foresight,  others 
would  roundly  denounce  "  Young  West "  as  a 
schemer  —  as  one  who,  to  gratify  his  ambition, 
would  impose  upon  the  country  an  effort  which 
would  call  every  citizen  into  service  for  an 
additional  term. 

"  We  have,"  they  said,  "  just  finished  a  work, 
grander  than  any  which  the  history  of  mankind 
records ;  we  have  built  a  network  of  drains 
such  as  the  world  liad  never  seen  ;  we  luivo 
abolished  that  class  of  unpleasant  work  which, 
in  former  centuries,  had  made  slavery  a  neces- 
sity ;  we  have  done  away  with  most  epidemics 
and  thus  increased  the  average  length  of  human 
life  by  a  good  number  of  years;  and  now  comes 
"  Young  West  "  and  proposes  to  abandon  the 
whole  system,  to  fill  up  the  diains,  to  build  new 
reservoirs  for  the  reception  of  refuse   matter,  to 


20C  YOUNG  WEST. 

establi^h  a  new  service  for  transformation  of 
that  matter  into  a  fertilizer.  He  tells  us  that 
his  chemical  composition  will  deodorize  all  ex- 
crements, that  it  will  destroy  infectious  germs, 
but  is  he  sure  that  what  may  be  practicable  in 
the  laboratory  will  be  as  practicable  when 
applied  to  the  immense  masses  of  disintegrating 
matter  which  it  will  have  to  treat '?  One  epi- 
demic which  his  experiment  might  cause,  would 
cost  the  lives,  perhaps,  of  millions.  Is  the 
nation  ready  for  such  an  experiment?  —  for 
such  a  possible  sacrifice?  And  what  is  the 
good  that  we  are  assured  that  we  shall  derive 
from  it?  He  fears  that  in  a  couple  of  hundred 
years  the  earth  will  cease  to  bring  forth  fruit, 
and  thus  human  life  will  be  imperilled.  We 
will  admit  that  it  is  our  duty  to  prepare  for 
future  emergencies,  but  are  his  fears  justified? 
Are  they  not  rather  far-fetched  and  absurd? 
Are  not  the  historical  records  full  of  such  or 
similar  predictions  which  never  came  to  pass? 
Have  not  innumerable  scientific  theorists  prophe- 
sied that  in  the  end  the  earth  would  cool  off 
to  such  an  extent  that  all  vegetation  and  with 
it  animal  existence  would  be  made  impossible, 
but  have  their  predictions  ever  come  true? 
When  the  stores  of  coal  began  to  be  exhausted, 
and  people  became  afraid  that  civilization  would 


YOUNG  WEST.  207 


come  to  an  end,  did  they  not  learn  how  to 
produce  electricity  without  the  aid  of  coal,  so 
that,  instead  of  being  retarded,  civilization 
advanced?  " 

All  the  divisions  of  the  architectural  depart- 
ment, except  the  sewerage  battalion,  were  loud 
in  their  denunciations  of  "  Young  West's  ab- 
surdities," as  they  called  them.  The  divisions 
of  the  agricultural  department,  on  the  other 
hand,  who  observed  the  falling  off  of  the  earth's 
fertility,  stood  by  me,  their  periodicals  took  up 
my  defence  and  insisted  that  the  experiment 
was  at  least  worth  trying. 

For  a  number  of  years,  the  battle  thus  raged 
in  the  monthly  magazines  of  the  various  guilds. 
During  vacation  weeks  I  would  travel  to  other 
cities,  especially  in  the  agricultural  districts, 
and  exhibit  models  of  the  new  plant,  or  explain 
my  discovery.  I  asked  for  no  more  than  to  be 
permitted  to  transform  the  offal  of  only  one  city 
into  a  fertilizer  and  to  return  it  to  a  given  area 
of  land,  to  prove  by  the  results  the  correctness 
of  my  deductions  and  the  feasibility  of  my 
plans. 

Progress,  however,  was  slow;  my  scheme  had 
more  opponents  than  supporters  ;  people  feared 
that  the  introduction  of  my  system  would  in- 
crease not  alone  the  daily  hours  of   work,  but 


208  YOUNG  WEST. 

would  necessitate  the  draft  of  veterans  at  least 
for  one  year's  extra  service.  Such  a  draft  had 
been  made  but  once,  and,  strange  to  say,  in  order 
to  institute  the  present  system  of  sewerage  to 
which  I  was  so  much  opposed. 

Many  times  did  I  determine  to  give  up  the 
struggle,  to  do  my  duty  as  a  plain  citizen  and  to 
leave  well-enough  alone ;  but  it  was  due  to  my 
wife's  exhortations  and  encouragement  that  I 
held  out  and  remained  steadfast.  She  prophe- 
sied final  success  ;  she  held  out  before  me  the 
honor  of  the  blue  ribbon.  Would  she  not  feel 
proud  of  her  husband  ?  Would  it  not  have  an 
influence  upon  our  children,  as  well  as  upon  all 
the  yoiuig,  to  see  persistency  rewarded  ?  Was 
not  the  respectful  and  grateful  rememberance  of 
posterity  immortality  indeed  for  which  all 
should  strive  ? 

At  last  the  wind  began  to  shift ;  some  straws 
began  to  show  that  it  was  turning  and  that 
public  opinion  commenced  to  change  in  favor  of 
my  plans. 


YOUNG  WEST.  200 


CHAPTER  XV. 

The  narrative  of  my  presidential  campaign 
might  become  unintelligible  to  readers  of  a 
later  century  unless  I  embodied  in  this  book 
for  their  special  benefit  a  description  of  the 
methods  with  which  the  nations  in  our  day 
govern  themselves.  Will  my  contemporaries, 
therefore,  kindly  pardon  me  when  T  present  in 
the  following  chapter  a  picture  of  our  political 
machinciy  with  which  they,  of  course,  are 
familiar? 

Self-government  was  the  glorious  ideal  after 
which  the  nations  of  old  were  constantly  reach- 
ing, although   this  phantom   escaped  their  em- 
brace every  time  when  they  thought  they  had 
captured    it.      Wearied    by  despotism,  tired    of 
monarchy,  they  believed  that  a  republic  would 
indeed  secure  for  them  what  they  desired,  viz.: 
a  government  of   the  people,  for  the  people,  and 
by  the  people.     After  a  brief  experience  they 
found  to  their  sorrow  that  these  hopes,  too,  were 
delusive.     Instead   of   by  one  monarch  or  one 
despot    they    were   now    ruled    by  hundreds  of. 
political   bosses,  or   by    moneyed    corporations, 
syndicates  and   monopolies    too  numerou-s  to  b(! 


210  YOUNG  WEST. 

counted.  The  very  representatives  whom  they 
elected  to  transact  the  public  business  betrayed 
them,  and  the  iron  hand  of  despotic  majorities 
rested  more  heavily  upon  them  than  had  in 
previous  ages  the  hand  of  an  irresponsible 
tyrant. 

In  vain  they  tried  to  reach  the  will  of  the 
sovereign  people.  Let  alone  that  political 
equality  can  not  exist  unless  social  and  economi- 
cal equality  support  it,  their  axiom,  that  the 
"  majority  must  rule,"  was  a  fallacy,  if  not  in 
itself  at  least  in  its  execution.  Given  a  commu- 
nity of  a  hundred  people,  was  it  right  that, 
fifty-one  voting  for  one  measure  and  forty-nine 
for  another,  the  latter  should  be  made  subser- 
vient to  the  former?  Or  was  it  indeed  the 
"  vox  populi,"  the  voice  of  the  sovereign  people 
that  was  heard  when  in  a  three  cornered  con- 
test the  party  which  cfist  thirty-six  ballots  was 
allowed  to  prescribe  laws  to  the  remaining  sixty- 
four?  Small  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  people 
at  my  father's  time  continuously  tinkered  their 
election  laws,  and  that,  no  matter  how  shrewdly 
they  meandered  their  election  districts,  or  how 
ingeniously  they  constructed  their  automatic 
ballot  boxes,  the  cunning  found  always  a  way 
to  defeat  the  public  will. 

Finall}^  the  honest  and  thinking  classes  came 


YOUNG  WEST.  211 


to  the  conclusion  that  their  whole  system  of 
electing  a  government  was  a  failure  and  a 
farce ;  they  objected  to  serve  any  longer  as 
voting  cattle  and  to  hurrah  for  some  scheming 
politician,  who,  by  shrewd  machinations  or  by 
the  depth  of  his  bar'l,  had  succeeded  in  captur- 
ing a  nomination.  Elections  had  then  come  to 
serve  as  a  popular  pastime.  There  were  muni- 
cipal elections  every  year;  state  elections  every 
second  year;  national  elections  every  fourth 
year.  Half  a  year  previous  to  these  elections, 
the  opposing  parties  and  their  candidates  would 
begin  to  abuse  each  other  to  the  best  of  their 
ability,  and  the  partisans  would  stake  large 
sums  of  money  upon  the  success  of  their  favor- 
ites, precisely  as  they  would  upon  a  favorite 
race-horse.  The  economic  interests  of  the 
country,  on  the  other  hand,  became  paralyzed 
during  the  time,  if  they  were  not  killed  out- 
right.     Who  cared  ? 

When  the  social  order  which  we  enjoy  at 
present  hove  in  sight,  its  framers  evolved  a  con- 
stitution so  different  from  that  of  their  ances- 
tors that  a  great  many  of  their  supporters  even 
doubted  its  feasibility,  and  feared  that  instead  of 
enhancing  liberty  it  would  destory  it,  because 
the  new  order  went  almost  to  the  extreme  and 
reduced  what  was   formerly  called  "  the  expres>* 


212  YOUNG   WEST. 

sion  of  the  public  will,"  "  the  safeguard  of  lib- 
erty," to  a  minimum.  That  they  had  not  been 
mistaken,  that  they  had  discovered  at  last  the 
most  effective  method  of  good  government,  is 
known  to  us,  and  although  our  children  may  yet 
improve  certain  details,  it  is  our  hope  that  in  its 
main  features  the  constitution  of  our  days  will 
be  able  to  satisfy  in  its  execution  the  remotest 
generations. -\j 

It  now  became  the  duty  of  the  government  to 
marshal  the  members  of  the  nation  in  their  com- 
mon fight  against  hunger,  cold,  disease  and 
ignorance;  its  functions  were,  therefore,  others 
than   they   had   been    before,  and  were   divided 

'  among  the  number  of  departments  of  which  I 
had  occasion  to  speak  in  a  previous  chapter. 
To  make  these  various  offices  elective  would 
have  been  absurd.  What,  for  example,  does  an 
agriculturists  know  of  the  needs  of  the  archi- 
tectural department,  or  can  he  tell  whether  a 
person  is  qualified  for  any  of  its  offices  ?     Every 

I  department  appointed,  therefore,  its  own  officers 
according  to  fitness.  Every  officer  was  now 
made  the  servant  of  the  people  in  the  true  sense 
of  the  word;  he  received  no  extra  remuneration, 
and  for  the  honor  which  the  office  conferred 
upon  him  he  dearly  paid  by  the  responsibilities 
with    which    it   burdened    him.      The    commis- 


YOUNG  WEST.  213 


sioiieis,  who  appointed  the  officers,  were  gener- 
ally led  in  their  decisions  both  by  the  records 
of  a  candidate  and  by  the  recommendations  of 
his  co-workers.  Inasmuch  as  the  ranks  of  the 
higher  officials  were  filled  by  promotions  from 
the  next  lower  rank,  no  person  ever  occupied  a 
higher  position  unless  he  had  become  thor- 
oughly familiar  with  the  duties  of  all  the 
inferior  offices  and  had  faithfully  served  a  term 
in  them.  A  person  who  eventually  entered  the 
cabinet  as  the  head  of  a  department  had  passed 
through  all  the  offices  below  it ;  he  had  even 
served  as  a  private.  The  president,  whose  pre- 
rogative it  was  to  select  among  the  aspirants 
the  best  qualified  for  a  cabinet  office,  in  place  of 
the  members  who  went  out  of  service,  could 
make  no  grave  mistakes,  and  could  be  sure  in 
almost  every  case    that  the   men  appointed    by 

/  him  were  thoroughly  conversant  with  the 
minutest  details  of  the  work  which  their  depart- 
ments had  to  cover,  because  he  could  choose 
only  from  those  who  were  serving  in  a  position 

'  next  to  that  of  a  cabinet  officer. 

The  heads  of  the   divisions  in  every  depart- 
ment formed  at  the  same  time  a  board,  whose 

/  duty  it  was  to  legislate  for  the  proper  conduct 
of  business  in  their  branch ;  also  to  arbitrate 
whenever  a  difference    arose  between  sections. 


214  YOUNG  WEST. 


If,  as  it  sometimes  happened,  two  departments 
came  in  conflict  with  one  another,  each  of  the 
contesting  parties  would  select  the  head  of 
another  department,  and  these  two  arbitrators 
would  choose  a  third  one,  form  a  court,  listen  to 
the  evidences,  and  decide  who  was  right  or 
wrong.  Their  verdict  was  final  and  the  con- 
testing parties  had  to  yield. 

The  president  only  was  chosen  directly  by 
the  people,  that  is  by  the  veterans,  to  whom 
alone  had  been  given  the  privilege  of  the  ballot^ 
After  a  faithful  service  of  thirty  years  they 
were  trusted  to  know  what  the  country  needed 
and  to  what  rights  their  guilds  were  entitled- 
Being  interested  in  every  public  question,  only 
in  so  far  as  the  welfare  of  the  whole  country 
guaranteed  also  their  own,  they  entered  upon  a 
political  campaign  without  passion  or  bias. 

Candidates  for  this  highest  of  all  ofiices  could 
be  chosen  solely  from  the  small  number  of  men 
or  women  who  had  served  in  the  cabinet  as 
heads  of  a  department  or  of  a  division,  and  who 
had  retired  from  public  service  for  at  least  five 
years. 

The  election  of  a  president  never  turned 
around  a  person :  its  pivot  was  always  some 
principle.  Whenever  some  new,  great,  public 
work  was  to  be  undertaken,  to  whom  could  it 


YOUNG  WI^JST.  215 


be  entrusted  more  safely  than  to  a  person  who 
was    specially  qualified    to  carry  it  out?     If  it 
fell  into  the  architectural  line,  an  architect  was 
made  president ;  if  it  fell  into  the  department  of 
electricity,   an    electrician    was   raised    to    that 
oflBce,  etc.     At  every  presidential  campaign  thej 
question  was  not  what  person  was    to    govcn-n    "^ 
the  country,  but  what  work  was  the  most  desir- 
able   to  be  performed  at  the  time.     It  was  in 
this  field  of  discussion  that  parties  clashed  with 
one  another;  some  would  be  honestly  of  opinion     /' 
that  one  kind  of  work  was  more  needed  than 
another  and  ought  to  receive  preference ;   others 
would  claim  as  honestly  that  another  enterprise 
was  deserving  of  first  attention. 

Each  class  of  work  was  thus  represented  by 
a  presidential  candidate,  and  the  election  took 
place  in  the  following  manner. 

Every  veteran  of  a  guild  had  the  right  of  his 
own  opinion  in  regard  to  one  or  the  other  pro- 
posed measures,  and  was,  therefore,  allowed  to 
cast  his  ballot  for  the  candidate  of  his  choice. 
The  nominee  who  received  the  majority  vote  of 
a  department  was  made  its  candidate,  and  the 
one  who  carried  the  greatest  number  of  depart- 
ments became  president.  This  method  of 
election  had  found  favor,  because  the  interests 
of  all  the  members  of  a  guild  were  identical,  and 


216  YOUNG  WEST. 

a  majority  vote  of  them  represented  in  a  gen- 
eral way  the  sentiment  of  their  department. 
The  wish  of  the  greatest  number  of  departments 
stood  then  for  the  will  of  the  whole  people,  or 
came  at  least  as  near  to  it  as  it  was  possible  to 
ascertain. 

I  will  now  return  to  my  story,  presuming 
that  my  prospective  readers  understand  the  sit- 
uation. 

After  my  articles  had  directed  the  attention 
of  the  country  to  my  discovery,  and  after  my 
plans  had  been  discussed  in  all  their  aspects  for 
a  number  of  years  in  the  public  prints,  people 
began  to  see  that  there  was  some  truth  at  least 
in  my  statements  and  some  logic  at  least  in  my 
arguments.  Some  periodicals,  therefore,  advo- 
cated a  trial.  The  agriculturists  were  the  more 
eager  to  ascertain  whether  my  projects  were 
feasible,  as  the  crops  had  been  poor  during  the 
last  few  years,  and  the  force  as  well  as  the 
hours  of  labor  in  the  fishery  divisions  had  to  be 
increased  in  order  to  make  good  the  deficiency. 
The  country  had  not  yet  suffered,  but  as  many 
preferred  a  vegetarian  diet  to  meat  or  fish,  that 
class  had  been  greatly  inconvenienced  by  the 
partial  failure  of  the  cereal  supply.  The  people 
found  thus  that  something  should  be  done  to 
improve  agriculture,  and  most  wisely  they  agreed 


iSH 


YOUNG  WEST.  217 


upon  the  election  of  an  agriculturist  to  the 
piesidential  office.  When  Mr.  Rust,  who  had 
served  at  the  head  of  the  agricultural  depart- 
ment, was  nominated  for  the  office,  no  dissent- 
ing voice  was  heard.  The  campaign  was  a  tame 
one,  and  his  election  was  almost  a  unanimous 
one. 

The  new  president  had  known  me  for  many 
years  in  my  official  capacity  as  superintendent 
of  the  sewers  of  Atlantis.  He  had  not  only  read 
my  articles,  but  had  given  me  a  chance  to 
explain  them  in  person  to  him,  at  which  occasion 
I  had  found  him  an  enthusiastic  listener.  After 
he  had  left  the  service,  he  had  travelled  for  a 
number  of  years  in  foreign  countries,  where,  I 
suppose,  he  must  have  made  observations  that 
strensfthened  him  in  his  convictions  that  I  was 
right,  and  that  no  matter  how  great  the  expense 
would  be  to  establish  plants,  as  I  proposed  them, 
the  country  would  enormously  gain  in  the  end. 

No  sooner  was  he  installed  in  his  office  than 
he  induced  the  chief  of  the  architectural  depart 
ment  to  offer  to  me  the  vacant  position  of  head 
of  the  whole  division  of  sewerage,  which  office 
entitled  me  to  a  seat  in  the  cabinet. 

Owing  to  her  duties  of  motherhood,  my  wife 
had  entered  the  regulars  at  rather  an  advanced 
age.     That  she  might  stay  in  Atlantis  with  me, 


218  YOUNG  WEST. 

she  had  chosen  the  same  work  in  the  supply 
department,  in  which  slie  had  been  employed 
before.  Slie  was  more  ambitious  than  I,  and 
yet  she  preferred  to  gratify  her  ambition  rather 
indirectly  through  me  than  directly  through 
aspiring  for  a  more  prominent  position  for  her- 
self. 

"  It  is  immaterial  to  me,"'  she  would  say, 
"whether  I  serve  the  community  by  my  own 
work  or  by  aiding  you  in  your  efforts.  In  the 
end  it  is  the  same.  If  I  were  to  carve  out  for 
myself  a  sphere  of  action  which  would  bring 
me  more  prominently  before  the  country  I 
could  not  assist  you  in  your  greater  work,  and 
^"my  vanity  would  do  more  harm  than  good. 
Let  me  work  with  you  ;  I  will  be  satisfied  with 
whatever  rays  of  glory  will  fall  upon  me  from 
the  renown  and  the  immortal  fame  that  will 
shine  upon  you." 

On  her  account  I  hesitated,  therefore,  to 
accept  the  honorable  ofiice  that  was  offered 
to  me ;  not  for  all  the  fame  in  the  world,  would 
I  have  parted  from  her  for  a  year,  and  not 
until  a  suitable  position  in  the  capital  was  found 
for  my  wife  did  I  accept. 

I  had  now  dwelt  and  labored  for  a  quarter  of 
a  century  in  the  city  of  my  birth.  For  three 
years  I  had  served  as  a  recruit,  for  five  years  as 


YOUNG  WEST.  219 


a  private  and  subaltern  officer  in  the  sewerage 
service ;  during  ten  years  I  superintended  the 
whole  section  ;  for  two  years  I  was  a  member 
of  the  provincial  board,  and  during  five  years  I 
was  their  chairman.  This  made  in  all  twenty- 
five  years. 

In  the  meantime  some  of  my  children  had 
grown  up ;  Leete  was  in  his  last  collegiate  year 
and  intended  to  enter  the  manufacturing  de- 
partment. My  two  other  boys  were  in  the 
high  and  intermediate  schools;  so  was  one  of 
my  daughters  ;  the  youngest  was  yet  an  inmate 
of  the  primary. 

My  mother,  a  widow  for  the  second  time,  had 
left  the  service  many  years  ago  and  was  at 
present  travelling  in  a  warmer  climate  for  the 
sake  of  her  health. 

I  had  a  large  circle  of  friends,  and  so  had  my 
wife.  We  were  well  liked  in  the  clubs  to 
which  we  belonged,  and  now  that  we  were  to 
leave  the  city  they  desired  to  give  us  a  token 
of  the  esteem  and  love  in  which  we  were  held 
by  them. 

Two  days  previous  to  our  departure  one  of 
my  friends  called  and  proposed  that  we  should 
meet  him  the  next  day  at  a  given  hour,  to  take 
dinner  with  him  at  one  of  our  club  rooms.  We 
accepted;  but  great  was  our   sui prise  when  we 


220  YOUNG  WEST. 

found  that  more  than  a  hundred  persons  had 
assembled  to  dine  with  us  at  the  same  time.  A 
committee  had  prepared  quite  an  elaborate  pro- 
gramme of  postprandial  exercises.  Artists  had 
been  invited  to  entertain  us  with  song  and  instru- 
mental music.  In  verse  and  in  prose,  the  regret 
was  expressed  by  the  guests  that  they  should  lose 
us,  coupled,  however,  with  congratulations  and 
well  wishes  for  our  future.  The  company  was 
composed  of  members  from  all  departments,  of 
officers  as  well  as  of  privates ;  there  were  men 
and  women,  veterans,  regulars,  and  even  re- 
cruits. A  photographer  took  a  flash-light 
picture  of  the  scene,  and  each  of  the  guests  pre- 
sent afterwards  received  a  copy  of  it  by  which 
to  remember  the  farewell  banquet  rendered  to 
"Young  West  and  his  wife  by  his  many 
friends.  " 

With  the  exception  of  the  most  necessary  arti- 
cles of  the  wardrobe,  we  returned  oar  modest 
furniture  to  the  stock-rooms  of  Atlantis,  and 
received  an  order  for  a  supply  similar  to  it,  to 
be  taken  from  the  national  storehouse  of  the 
city  to  which  we  had  been  transferred. 

The  next  day  we  left  Atlantis  by  aeroplane 
and  arrived  safely  at  our  destination.  Friends 
had  secured  rooms  for  us  in  advance.  We 
furnished  them,    and,   having  attended    to    our 


YOUNG  WEST.  221 

personal  comforts,  we  reported  ourselves  ready 
for  work,  I  in  the  cabinet,  my  wife  in  the 
supply  department. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

It  had  been  frequently  proposed,  and  once  a 
hot  and  closely  contested  campaign  had  been 
fought  on  account  of  it,  that  the  seat  of  our  gov- 
ernment should  be  transferred  to  a  part  of  the 
country  that  was  more  centrally  located  than 
the  District  of  Columbia.  The  people  of  South 
America,  even  of  Mexico  and  California,  com- 
plained bitterly  that  the  national  capital  was  at 
too  great  a  distance  from  their  provinces,  and 
that  their  delegates  were  compelled  to  travel 
sometimes  two*  days  and  two  nights  to  reach 
Washington. 

However,  the  hardship  of  a  prolonged  travel 
was  not  deemed  sullicient  reason  to  abandon  a 
city  which  had  become  identified  with  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  land,  or  to  give  up  the  build- 
ings which  had  been  especially  erected  during 
the  last  two  centuries,  at  enormous  expense,  for 
the  proper  transaction  of  the  national  business. 

Washington  had  grown  and  had  become  a 
city  of  enormous   size.      It  counted   neiirly   two 


222  YOUNG  WEST. 

millions  of  inhabitants,  most  all  of  them  era- 
ployed  in  either  purely  administrative  work  or  in 
supplying  the  needs  of  this  great  army  of  oflB- 
cials.  Of  manufacturing  establishments  there 
were  none  to  be  found,  neither  in  the  city  nor 
in  its  nearest  neighborhood.  Some  of  the 
citizens  were  employed  in  horticulture,  but  the 
products  of  their  gardens  were  barely  sufficient 
to  supply  the  demands  of  the  city,  and  the 
national  markets  were  stocked  with  the  surplus 
of  the  pi'ovinces. 

Washington  was  built  like  the  rest  of  our 
cities.  Its  private  residences  did  not  differ  from 
the  ones  I  had  seen  elsewhei'e ;  its  hospitals, 
schools,  sample-rooms,  and  storehouses  were  like 
those  in  Atlantis  or  New  York.  If  the  city 
owned  a  feature  which  distinguished  it  from 
other  centres  of  population  it  was  that  it 
possessed  a  larger  number  of  hotels  than  any 
other  city  upon  the  continent  to  accommodate 
both  the  visiting  delegates  that  flocked  to  the 
seat  of  government  from  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try to  transact  their  business,  and  the  pleasure- 
seeking  public  who,  during  vacation  time,  would 
come  to  inspect  the  wonders  of  the  national 
\  capital.  The  museums,  libraries  and  art  gal- 
leries of  the  city  were  indeed  wonders  of  archi- 
tecture.    The  greatest  glory  to  which  a  painterly 


YOUNG  WEST.  223 


/  or  a  sculptor  aspired  was  to  have  one  of  his 
1  works  admitted  into  the  national  galleries,  or 
)  even  placed  as  an  ornament  in  any  of  the 
\  government  buildings. 

Most  of  the  typesetting  and  printing  business 
was  done  right  here.  The  "  National  News 
Register "  was  edited  in  the  city ;  circulating 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  coun- 
try, it  employed  more  than  ten  thousand  people 
to  issue  its  sheets.  The  division  which  was  in 
charge  of  the  accounts  which  the  nation  kept 
with  every  individual  covered  acres  of  land. 
Thousands  of  people  were  kept  busy  in  the 
manufacture  of  subscription  blanks,  and  if  the 
system  of  the  governmental  machinery  had  not 
been  so  well  devised  a  much  greater  number  of 
people  would  have  been  needed  to  attend  to  this 
department  of  the  administration  alone. 

A  position  in  Washington  was  not  a  sinecure. 
In  the  same  degree  as  it  was  honorable,  it  drew 
upon  the  time  and  the  energy  of  the  incumbent. 
The  daily  hours  of  service  were  nominally  eight, 
but  the  higher  his  position  the  more  did  an 
officer  feel  obliged  to  give  a  part  of  his  leisure 
to  his  work.  The  majority  of  the  members  of 
the  government  were  of  my  age,  i.  o.,  about 
forty-five  years  old,  the  very  time  in  life  when 


224  YOUNG  WEST. 


a  person  finds  his  highest  satisfaction  in  work 
and  cares  less  for  enjoyments. 

The  social  atmosphere  of  the  city  was  very 
enjoyable,  because  the  liighest  talents  which 
the  land  produced  were  concentrated  in  this 
place.  The  people  of  Washington  represented, 
so  to  say,  the  flower  of  the  country.  One  could 
not  walk  in  the  streets  for  five  minutes  without 
meeting  a  man  or  woman  who  wore  the  white, 
crimson,  green,  or  blue  ribbon  ;  i.  e.,  who  had 
distinguished  themselves  in  some  sphere  of 
activity. 

My  labors  were  more  arduous  than  I  had 
imagined  them  to  be.  Of  course  I  did  not 
work  with  my  hands,  nor  had  I  to  inspect 
the  details  of  given  tasks,  but  1  had  to  pass 
judgment  upon  the  reports  which  came  from 
every  bureau  under  me,  and  as  a  mistake  on  my 
part  would  have  been  followed  by  grave  conse- 
quences, I  had  to  be  very  careful.  I  had  also 
to  travel  extensively,  but  after  a  man  has  satis- 
fied his  curiosity,  travelling  ceases  to  be  a  pleas- 
ure to  him.  Many  a  time  did  I  regret  having 
accepted  my  position,  and  many  a  time  did  I 
look  back  with  envy  upon  the  happy  days  when 
I  worked  as  a  private  for  only  four  hours  a 
day  in  the  sewers  of  Atlantis  and  had  ample 
time    to    pursue    my    studies    or    to    enjoy    the 


YOUNG  WEST. 


company  of  ray  wife.  Had  it  not  been  for  her 
encouraging  words,  I  sboiild  have  resigned  my 
ofKce  and  begged  to  be  returnt'd  to  a  position  of 
less  responsibility. 

"  Every  citizen,"  said  she^  "  must  do  his  best 
for  his  country.  If  the  ones  who  are  able  to 
lead  others,  will  refuse  to  do  their  share  of 
the  public  business  because  the  work  is  too 
onerous  for  them  or  the  responsibilities  too  great, 
how  can  the  country  ever  prosper,  or  who  is 
to  take  their  places  ?  The  country  has  done  for 
you  all  ill  her  power,  has  she  not  the  right 
to  ask  of  you  to  do  your  very  best  for  her? 
Besides,  the  blue  ribbon  is  now  within  your 
reach ;  your  grandfather  wore  it,  why  should 
not  you  ?  May  not,  after  all,  the  highest  office 
in  the  gift  of  the  country  be  offered  to  you  ? 
Would  you  give  up  all  aspirations  for  the  only 
true  immortality  simply  because  you  must  devote 
a  few  more  hours  to  your  work  than  seems  to 
be  compatible  with  your  convenience  and  your 
personal  comfort  ?  " 

After  such  conversations,  I  generally  went  to 
work  with  renewed  vigor. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  President  Rust  was  to 
convene  a  conference  of  all  the  members  of 
his  cabinet,  to  discuss  the  pros  and  cons  of 
the  plans  and  schemes  which  I   hail  proposed  in 


22fi  YOUNG  WEST. 


my  articles.  For  more  than  three  weeks  we 
stiuliod  the  question,  and  as  I  had  a  chance  to 
explain  by  word  of  mouLh  the  details  of  my 
discovery,  I  made  many  converts  of  people  who 
had  been  seriously  opposed  to  them.  The  con- 
ference finally  agreed  to  make  a  trial  on  a  small 
scale  and  under  restrictions  which  would  prevent 
any  possible  danger  to  the  public  or  any  un- 
necessary waste  of  energy.  The  departments 
most  interested  in  my  schemes  would  be  asked 
to  carry  the  greatest  burden  of  my  experiment, 
which  was  not  more  than  right.  Two  calls 
were  therefore  issued :  one  to  cities  who  would 
volunteer  to  have  provisional  plants  established 
in  their  midst  for  the  transformation  of  refuse 
matter  into  a  fertilizer  ;  the  other,  to  veterans, 
willing  to  serve  an  additional  year  for  the  pur- 
pose of  building  a  plant  after  my  designs." 

In  the  first  call,  it  was  frankly  stated  that 
the  experiments  were  dangerous,  and,  in  case 
they  should  be  followed  by  any  evil  results,  in 
spite  of  all  precautions  which  the  government 
would  take,  the  inhabitants  of  that  city  must 
not  hold  the  administration  responsible.  In  the 
other,  the  attention  of  volunteers  was  called  to 
the  fact,  that,  according  to  estimates,  their 
labors  would  be  required  for  a  term  of  not  less 
than  one  year. 


YOUNG   WEST.  227 

Such  was  the  public  spirit  of  those  days  that 
half  a  dozen  cities  applied  at  once  and  fifty 
thousand  veterans,  including  members  of  all 
departments,  asked  to  be  enrolled  in  the  service. 
I  was  given  full  charge  of  the  work  and  I 
selected  from  the  number  of  cities  that  had  filed 
their  application,  the  city  of  Atlantis,  partly 
because  I  was  more  familiar  with  its  system  of 
drainage,  and  partly  because  I  could  count  upon 
the  confidence  which  tlie  inhabitants  of  that 
town  placed  in  me.  My  duties  compelled  me  to 
remain  domiciled  in  Washington,  but  as  Atlan- 
tis could  be  reached  by  aeroplane  in  a  few 
hours,  and  as  such  a  conveyance  was  placed  at 
my  disposal  by  the  government,  I  opened  a 
branch  office  in  Atlantis  and  began  my  work  at 
once. 

To  the  credit  of  our  veterans,  I  must  say  that 
they  worked  with  a  will ;  ten  large  I'eservoirs 
were  built  within  half  a  year.  An  able  archi- 
tect had  constructed  them  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  air  could  be  drawn  out  of  thcni  by 
pumps,  so  that  whenever  the  drains  were  opened 
which  connected  them  with  the  main  pipes, 
they  drew  by  force  of  suction  the  offal  which 
they  held  into  them.  Common  earth  was  now 
mixed  with  the  matter  ;  the  chemical  compound 
which   I    had   discovered    was    infused,    and    a 


228  YOUNG  WEST. 


dough  was  made  of  it  which  a  machine  pressed 
automatically  into  the  form  of  bricks.  What- 
ever foul  air  arose  during  the  process  was  led 
into  an  electric  furnace  and  consumed  by  the 
heat.  The  bricks  had  this  quality  that  they 
would  dissolve  whenever  they  were  exposed  for 
a  couple  of  weeks  to  the  open  air.  We  sent 
them  to  rural  districts,  where  the  land  had 
refused  to  yield  fruit.  The  superintendents  of 
farms  were  instructed  to  place  them  in  the 
furrows,  plow  them  in  the  spring  into  the 
ground,  after  the  winter  weather  had  dissolved 
them,  and  then  to  sow  the  seed.  The  expense 
of  the  whole  process  was  closely  figured  and 
found  to  be  so  low  that  it  compared  favorably 
with  any  of  the  fertilizers  used  heretofore. 

When  the  temporary  drains  were  connected 
for  the  first  time  with  the  mains,  and  the 
machinery  of  my  new  plant  was  set  to  work 
the  whole  country  watched  in  suspense  "  the 
marvelous  discoveries  of  Young  West,"  as  some 
called  them,  or,  "■  the  crazy  notions  of  Young 
West,"  as  my  objectors  expressed  it. 

When  after  a  few  months,  it  was  found  that 
not  an  atom  of  foul  air  escaped  and  that  the 
health  of  the  citizens  of  Atlantis,  even  of  the 
men  employed  in  the  work,  had  remained  unim- 
paired, I  was  made  the  recipient  of  a  grand  ova- 


YOUNG  WEST.  229 

tion  ;  the  (lags  of  the  country  were  hoisted  upon 
every  public  building  in  the  city  and  congrati> 
lations  poured  upon  me. 

It  remained  now  to  be  seen  whether  the  land 
would  yield  a  greater  abundance  after  having 
been  stimulated  by  my  fertilizer.  P^xperments 
on  a  very  small  scale  which  I  had  made  in 
previous  years  on  garden  patches  in  the  public 
parks  to  which  I  had  attended  during  my  leisure 
hours,  had  convinced  me  that  ray  deductions 
were  correct,  still  I  passed  through  weeks  of 
gi'eat  mental  anxiety.  It  was  indeed  not  a 
small  matter  to  me,  now  that  I  had  succeeded  so 
far,  to  become  the  laughing-stock  of  the  country 
and  it  required  all  the  encouragement  of  my 
friends  and  especially  the  reassuring  talks  of  my 
wife,  to  keep  me  in  a  balanced  state  of  mind. 

The  reports,  however,  became  more  and  more 
hopeful  as  the  season  advanced.  The  weather 
in  general  had  been  fair,  though  not  extraordi- 
naiily  helpful,  but  nevertheless,  the  acres  fertil- 
ized with  our  bricks,  looked  fresher  and  more 
promising  than  the  ones  to  which  my  composi- 
tion had  not  been  applied.  Every  week,  I  made 
a  trip  to  these  regions  to  watch  the  experiment 
and  returned  from  every  one  of  them  inspired 
with  gr(>ater  hope.  At  harvest  time,  the  super- 
intendents reported  that  the  fields  upon  which 


230  YOUNG  WEST. 

the  experiment  had  been  tried,  liad  yielded  three 
times  as  much  as  those  that  had  been  managed 
in  the  old  style. 

The  problem  was  solved  and  as  nothing  suc- 
ceeds like  success,  the  country  talked  for  weeks 
only  about  ''  Young  West "  and  his  discovery. 
Every  one  claimed  now  that  he  had  known  I 
was  right,  and  that  from  the  beginning,  he  had 
prophesied  success. 

The  veterans,  who  had  so  cheerfully  offered 
their  services,  came  deservedly  in  for  a  great 
^are  of  the  honor ;  they  were  now  replaced  by 
recruits  and  regulars  and  when  they  were  to 
return  home  from  their  extra  work,  and  their 
companies  gathered  around  the  grand  stand,  at 
the  place  where  the  muster  was  annually  held, 
they  were  cheered  by  the  thousands  that  had 
come  from  far  and  near  to  witness  the  remark- 
able occasion. 

In  a  spirited  speech  I  thanked  them  for  the 
confidence  they  had  placed  in  me,  holding  out 
their  conduct  as  a  shining  example  to  be  emu- 
lated by  future  generations. 

On  the  same  day  a  great  surprise  awaited  me. 
The  President,  himself,  who  had  come  to 
Atlantis  to  honor  the  occasion  by  his  presence, 
and  to  render  the  thanks  of  the  nation  to  the 
noble  veterans,  fastened  the  blue  ribbon  to  t  he 


YOUNG  WEST.  231 


button-hole  of  my  coat.  He  delivered  a  short 
address  in  which  he  set  forth  the  duties  of  good 
citizenship  and  presented  me  to  the  people  as 
one  deserving  the  name  of  a  good  citizen.  "  A 
sage  of  olden  times,  once  said,"  so  he  closed, 
"  that  he  who  makes  two  blades  of  grass  grow 
where  formerly  but  one  would  flourish,  deserves 
more  praise  than  the  general  who  killed  thou- 
sands of  people.  Mr.  West  has  caused  three 
blades  to  grow  in  place  of  one." 

The  air  was  rent  by  the  cheers  of  the  people. 
"  Young  West !  Young  West !  "  rolled  the  cry 
from  a  thousand  lips  from  one  end  of  the  place 
to  the  other. 

In  the  cloud  of  handkerchiefs  that  were 
waved,  I  beheld  only  one.  As  I  saw  it  flutter  in 
the  air,  it  filled  me  with  greater  pride  than  did 
all  the  combined  plaudits  of  the  multitude.  It 
was  the  little  handkerchief  of  my  wife  ;  it  was 
Emily  who  waved  it. 


CHAPTERIVII. 

So  convincing  had  been  ray  success,  so  strik- 
ingly had  I  demonstrated  the  folly  of  wasting 
the  vital  forces  of  the  land,  that  the  objectors 
to  my  plans  were  silenced  and  the  heads  of  the 


232  YOUNG  WEST. 

departments  after  a  consultation  with  their 
inferior  officers,  expressed  their  willingness  to 
commence  at  once  the  work  of  remodelling  the 
drainage  system  of  the  whole  country.  To  this 
I  had  good  reason  to  object.  I  had  observed 
that  there  was  yet  much  to  be  improved  in  the 
construction  of  the  plants.  I  knew  that  these 
improvements  could  not  be  accomplished  in  a 
day  but  that  they  would  suggest  themselves  as 
the  work  went  slowly  along,  and  our  experiences 
multiplied.  If  we  should  go  ahead  at  once  on 
all  points  and  at  the  expense  of  much  extra 
labor  and  energy,  we  would  be  sure  to  find  a 
few  years  later  defects  everywhere  that  would 
involve  new  expense.  Success  did  not  blind  me 
nor  was  I  hot-headed.  I  proposed  to  continue 
the  work  slowly,  to  begin  it  in  the  large  cities 
that  were  situated  on  the  coast  of  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  Oceans,  and  to  work  our  way  by 
degrees  into  the  interior.  In  order  not  to  over- 
tax the  capacity  of  the  people,  I  suggested,  that 
during  the  next  year,  only  one,  the  largest  and 
most  populous  of  our  cities,  the  city  of  New 
York,  should  be  supplied  with  the  new  system. 
My  advice  was  heeded  and  I  received  orders  to 
commence  operations. 

I  had  just  begun  the  preliminary  labors  of  re- 
construction, when  of  a  sudden,  I  had  to  desist. 


YOUNG  WEST.  233 

Our  astronomers  had  been  surprised  during 
the  last  year  by  the  unforseeu  appearance  of  a 
hirge  and  brilliant  comet  in  the  eastern  sky. 
Its  tail  appeared  to  the  naked  eye  to  extend 
several  miles  in  length  and  it  was  at  its  end 
one  mile,  at  least,  in  width.  For  two  months 
this  wondrous  star  was  to  be  seen  every  night 
moving  in  an  angle  from  east  to  west  until  it 
disappeared  in  the  same  inexplicable  manner  as 
it  had  come. 

Hundreds  of  theories  were  at  once  set  atioat 
to  account  for  the  phenomenon.  For  several 
hundred  years  no  comet  of  such  dimensions  had 
been  seen,  even  the  one  that  had  appeared  in 
the  year  1858,  was  not  to  be  compared  in  size 
with  the  present  one.  Simultaneously  with 
these  theories,  sprang  up  snperstitions  of  all 
kinds.  Some  people  believed  that  the  comet 
was  bound  to  collide  either  with  the  moon  or 
with  the  earth,  and  that  in  either  case,  the 
end  of  this  globe  was  near  at  hand ;  others, 
who  were  less  timid,  still  feared  that  harm 
would  come  to  mankind  in  some  other  form, 
'•  Comets, "  they  said,  "  have  always  been  fore- 
runners of  disasters." 

It  was  in  vain  that  our  scientists  reminded 
the  people  how  illogical  their  fears  were  and 
that  even   in   case  mishaps   should   occur   they 


234  YOUNG  WEST. 


could  as  little  prevent  them  as  they  could  have 
prevented  the  appearance  of  the  star. 

Though  the  science  of  astronomy  had  solved 
many  a  puzzle,  our  astronomers  did  not  yet 
know  all.  Our  professors  could  give  no  valid 
reason  in  regard  to  the  origin,  the  peculiar 
form,  the  luminous  excretion,  and  the  course  of 
the  comet;  their  words,  therefore,  were  received 
with  little  credence  by  the  people. 

After  a  while  the}'  themselves  had  cause 
to  become  frightened.  Various  observations 
indicated  to  them  disturbances  that  were  im- 
pending, and,  strange  to  say,  whether  the  comet 
had  anything  to  do  with  it  or  not,  the  next 
three  years  proved  to  be  disastrous. 

In  Europe  and  in  South  America,  earthquakes 
occurred  such  as  had  never  visited  the  earth  be- 
fore. A  large  number  of  cities  in  Italy,  Greece, 
Spain,  Chili  and  Brazil  were  totally  destroyed, 
many  lives  lost,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
people  made  homeless. 

In  the  interior  of  Asia,  the  large  rivers  sud- 
denly overflowed  their  banks,  covering  immense 
tracts  of  land  with  their  waters,  ruining  whole 
provinces  and  causing  the  death  of  many 
thousands. 

Storms  broke  out  and  raged  with  such  a 
fury  on   the    ocean  that  the    strongest    vessels 


YOUNG    WEST.  235 


could  not  withstand  them  and  went  to  the 
bottom,  while  the  thousands  of  aeroplanes  that 
were  crossing  the  air  at  the  time,  were  carried 
to  destruction  with  all  their  human  freight,  as  if 
they  had  been  so  many  soap-bubbles. 

Every  day  brought  news  of  fresh  disasters. 
The  winter  grew  extremely  severe  in  the  north- 
ern and  eastern  parts  of  Europe,  and,  as  a  con- 
sequence, the  crops  failed  in  those  regions 
during  the  next  season,  and  the  people  were 
threatened  with  starvation. 

All  the  genius  which  the  human  mind  could 
command,  all  the  courage  of  which  the  luiman 
heart  was  capable  was  needed  to  combat  these 
hostile  forces,  and  had  it  not  been  for  our 
marvelous  organization,  which  was  built  upon 
the  solidarity  of  the  whole  human  race,  condi- 
tions would  have  grown  more  perilous  and  the 
suffering  much  more  intense.  As  it  was,  one 
nation  came  to  the  rescue  of  another ;  wherever 
damage  was  done,  the  industrial  armies  of  the 
whole  world  sent  at  once  men  and  means  to 
restore  and  to  build  up  what  had  been  de- 
stroyed. The  surplus  of  one  country  was  used 
to  cover  the  deficiencies  of  another.  Never 
was  the  question  of  indemnification  raised ; 
never  was  a  distinction  made  betwaen  one 
nationality    and  another ;  never  would  we   call 


236  YOUNG   WEST. 


it  charity  when  we  hastened  to  the  rescue  of 
a  sister  community.  Forming  one  brotherhood, 
we  felt  duty-bound  to  stand  up  manfully  for 
one  another  and  battle  together  against  the 
blind  forces  of  nature,  which  seemed  to  have 
been  set  free  to  annihilate  the  human  race. 

It  never  rains  but  it  pours  ;  to  add  to  the 
rest  of  the  misfortunes  an  epidemic  of  an  un- 
known nature  broke  out  in  the  interior  of 
Africa.  Although  that  continent  had  been  in- 
habited and  had  enjoyed  a  high  state  of  culture 
at  the  time  when  other  continents  were  yet 
covered  with  primeval  forests,  it  had,  neverthe- 
less, remained  behind  in  civilization  during  the 
last  millennium,  and  had  not  adapted  itself  as 
promptly  to  the  new  order  of  things  as  had 
Europe,  Asia,  America,  or  Australia. 

The  government  of  that  continent  was,  there- 
fore, slow  to  discover  the  threatening  danger  and 
unable,  besides,  to  keep  it  in  bounds.  When 
the  more  civilized  parts  of  the  world  became 
aware  of  it,  it  was  too  late  to  check  its  progress ; 
the  disease  spread  all  over  Europe ;  from  there, 
it  reached  Asia,  and  it  became  a  mere  question 
of  time  when  it  would  visit  America.  The  skill 
of  the  most  expert  physicians  was  baffled  by  it ; 
medical  history  showed  no  precedent  from  which 
to  obtain  guidance  in  dealing  with  it,  and    no 


TOUNQ  WEST.  237 

cause  for  the  disease  could  be  discovered.  It 
would  suddenly  attack  a  person,  throw  him  into 
convulsions,  and  death  would  follow  after  a  few 
hours  of  intense  suffering. 

The  doctors  were  nonplussed  ;  they  guessed  at 
medicines,  which,  however,  effected  no  cure. 
All  that  could  be  done  was  done  to  make  the 
sufferers  as  comfortable  as  possible  in  the  hours 
of  their  agony. 

Travel  almost  entirely  ceased  ;  intercommuni- 
cation between  the  nations  was  practically  cut 
off,  excepting  the  aid  which  one  country  brought 
to  another. 

Had  such  evils  befallen  the  inhabitants  of  this 
globe  during  my  father's  time,  when  every  one 
cared  only  for  himself,  and  every  member  of 
society  stood  in  a  continuous  warfare  with  his 
next-door  neighbor  for  the  support  of  life,  a 
panic  would  have  broken  out ;  in  the  attempt 
to  preserve  life,  suffering  would  have  been 
greatly  increased,  and,  panic-stricken,  the  human 
hand  would  have  blindly  destroyed  what  the  evil 
forces  of  nature  had  left  untouched.  Only 
because  we  stood  together  in  these  disastrous 
days ;  only  because  the  feeling  of  brotherhood 
united  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  were  we 
able  to  recover  from  all  these  misfortunes  with 


238  YOUNG  WEST. 

less  loss  of  life  and  property  than  would  have 
been  the  case  otherwise. 

In  spite  of  all  precautions  and  preventive 
measures,  the  epidemic  crossed  the  ocean  and 
reached  our  country ;  and  what  a  time  we  had 
of  it !  But  we  weathered  the  storm,  and  the 
burden  borne  by  all,  evenly  divided  among  all, 
did  not  crush  us  as  it  would  have,  had  we  gone 
into  the  fight  single-handed,  every  one  for  him- 
self. 

After  the  epidemic  had  made  the  round  of 
the  world,  it  disappeared  as  suddenly  as  it  had 
appeared. 

Was  it  to  be  wondered  at,  that,  under  such 
conditions,  all  enterprises  were  dropped  that 
were  not  urgently  demanded  by  the  pressing 
needs  of  the  moment?  Our  efforts  were  to  be 
applied  in  other  directions  than  to  the  manu- 
facture of  a  fertilizer.  The  administration  of 
President  Rust,  which  had  been  inaugurated 
under  most  promising  auspices,  was  known 
afterwards  as  the  one  in  which  the  most  appall- 
ing calamities  had  visited  the  country,  but  it 
was  also  mentioned  as  the  most  self-sacrificing 
government  that  ever  administrated  the  land. 
The  members  of  the  cabinet  set  the  example  to 
the  rest  of  the  people ;  all  rules  as  to  daily 
hours   of   work   were   suspended;  wherever   or 


YOUNG  WEST.  239 


whenever  our  presence  was  needed,  we  were 
found  in  attendance.  The  chiefs  of  depart- 
ments would  cheerfully  and  without  murmur 
take  upon  themselves  the  duties  that  belonged 
by  right  to  other  divisions  to  relieve  their  over- 
worked brethren.  Duiing  the  time  of  the 
epidemic,  for  example,  we  all  assisted  in  reorgan- 
izing the  hospital  service.  Inspired  by  our 
example,  every  officer  and  private  in  the  land 
gave  up  his  personal  convenience,  and,  without 
special  legislation  to  that  effect,  every  member 
of  the  community  not  alone  increased  his  daily 
hours  of  work  but  reduced  his  expenditures  so 
that  the  common  burden  should  be  lessened. 
"  Times  will  change  and  must  change,"  they 
would  say,  "and  when  prosperity  will  smile 
upon  us  again,  we  will  have  ample  opportunities 
to  recuperate." 

It  is  in  times  of  misfortune  when  the  effi- 
ciency and  the  strength  of  a  social  order  can  be 
tested.  During  the  time  of  my  father's  youth, 
the  people  stood  either  in  fear  of  their  govern- 
ments or  looked  upon  them  with  distrust,  even  in 
countries  in  which  the  republican  form  of 
government  was  established,  because  the  inter- 
ests of  the  governing  few  and  the  governed 
masses  were  in  his  time  opposed  instead  of 
being  identical.      In  our  day,  people  and  gov- 


240  YOUNG  WEST. 

ernment  are  one,  their  interests  are  the  same ; 
the  occupant  of  the  presidential  chair  and 
the  private,  who  just  entered  the  ranks  of 
the  Industrial  Army  as  a  recruit,  stand  socially 
and  economically  on  the  same  level.  If  a  dis- 
tinction does  exist,  it  is  this,  that  the  duties  of 
the  former  are  more  onerous  than  those  of  the 
latter,  though  this  is  balanced  by  the  honor  that 
is  attached  to  his  office. 

Thus  the  people  stood  by  the  administration  ; 
they  never  showed  the  least  sign  of  distrust 
or  dissatisfaction;  they  had  confidence  in  our 
foresight  and  in  the  experience  which  we  had 
accumulated  during  the  many  years  of  our 
services.  They  also  appreciated  our  devotion 
to  the  public  cause.  As  we  mourned  their 
losses,  so  they  mourned  ours ;  there  was  hardly 
any  of  us  who  had  not  lost  a  relative  or  a  dear 
friend. 

The  epidemic  had  carried  off  my  mother 
and  my  youngest  daughter.  My  mother  had 
reached  a  ripe  old  age,  and  as  she  would  have 
had  to  pay  her  last  tribute  to  nature  sooner  or 
later,  we  mourned  not  so  much  that  she  died, 
but  grieved,  having  lost  in  her  an  excellent 
friend  and  an  ever-cheerful  companion.  The 
loss  of  our  daughter  affected  us  much  more, 
because  she   was  a  promising  child ;  but  as  the 


YOUNG  WEST.  241 


country  lost  in  her  much  more  than  we  did,  we 
would  not  selfishly  single  her  out  from  the  rest. 
When  we  shed  tears  for  her,  we  bewailed  at  the 
same  time  the  loss  which  the  country  was  suffer- 
ing in  the  untimely  death  of  so  many  young  and 
promising  citizens. 

At  last  the  tide  turned,  normal  conditions 
were  restored,  and  the  nations  of  the  earth 
began  to  remove  the  traces  of  the  disaster. 

By  this  time  I  had  reached  the  end,  not 
alone  of  my  official  activity,  but  also  of  my 
service  in  the  army.  On  Muster-day  I  marched 
amidst  the  veterans,  and  the  next  day  found  me 
a  man  of  leisure. 

I  had  prepared  for  this  event ;  my  experience 
had  shown  me  that  it  is  less  difficult  for  a 
person  to  give  up  leisure  and  to  enter  upon 
some  work  than  to  retire  from  a  life  of  activity 
to  privacy.  It  is,  after  all,  work  that  brings 
happiness  and  gives  satisfaction,  and  to  be  with- 
out an  occupation  is  rather  a  curse  than  a 
blessing,  especially  after  years  of  extraordinary 
effoits,  such  as  I  had  passed  through. 

Previous  to  my  retirement,  therefore,  I  had 
accepted  offices  in  some  of  the  clubs  of  which  I 
was  a  member,  and  I  began  now  to  give  my 
time  to  them.  I  also  volunteered  to  take  charge 
of  some  of  the  flower  beds  in  the  park  of  the 


242  YOUNG  WEST. 

square  in  which  I  resided,  and  more  than  ever 
before  did  I  pursue  my  favorite  study,  chemis- 
try.    Thus  my  days  passed  pleasantly  by. 

My  successors  in  office  frequently  came  to 
seek  my  advice,  and  not  only  was  I  delighted  to 
give  them  the  benefit  of  my  long  experience, 
but  I  never  felt  irritated  or  oifended  when  they 
did  not  accept  my  counsel.  Many  people  are 
sorely  hurt  when  their  well-meant  advice  is  not 
heeded;  but  how  foolish  that  is!  Are  our 
friends  not  to  use  their  own  judgment?  Is  it 
not  sufficient  honor  to  us  that  in  their  search 
after  truth  they  ask  our  opinion  ?  If  the  son 
should  not  be  wiser  than  the  father,  if  the  suc- 
cessor in  an  office  should  not  outdo  his  pre- 
decessor, how  could  the  world  ever  advance? 
I  gave  my  advice  without  demanding  that  it 
should  be  heeded.  When  it  coincided  with  the 
judgment  of  the  questioner,  I  felt  pleased  to 
observe  that  my  force  of  mind  was  yet  strong 
enough  to  grasp  a  given  situation;  if  they  acted 
contrary  to  my  counsel,  I  had  often  cause  to 
acknowledge  that  the  younger  man  was  clearer 
in  his  comprehension  of  the  facts,  and  in  his 
judgment  of  their  merits,  than  I  was. 

I  intended  to  visit  other  countries,  but  for  two 
reasons  I  delayed  my  project.  In  the  first  place, 
I  would  not  travel  unless  my  wife  could  accom- 


YOUNG  WEST.  243 

pany  me,  but  she  had  not  yet  discharged  her 
duties  to  the  country,  and  her  time  of  service  did 
not  expire  for  three  more  years.  In  the  second 
place,  expenditures  are  increased  when  one 
travels  for  pleasure,  and  although  our  annual 
allowance  provides  for  an  occasional  trip,  it  is 
not  by  far  large  enough  to  cover  a  prolonged 
journey.  Our  laws,  however,  permit  that 
veterans  who  desire  to  travel  may  ask  the 
government  to  set  aside  for  their  future  use  the 
unexpended  amounts  of  a  few  terms,  which  they 
will  return  to  the  treasury,  received  from  the 
time  of  their  application. 

My  wife,  as  well  as  myself,  saved,  therefore, 
during  these  three  years,  a  sum  sufficient  to  per- 
mit us  to  travel  in  comfort,  and  after  she  hail 
left  the  service  we  took  our  passports  and  set 
out  for  a  year's  trip  around  the  world. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

We  intended  to  visit  Europe,  inspect  a  part  of 
Africa,  enter  Asia  from  the  east,  and  cross  it  in 
a  westerly  direction.  After  reaching  the  Pacific, 
wo  planned  a  flying  trip  to  Australia,  from  ther*^ 
to  Cape  Horn,  and  by  laud  through  the  length 


244  YOUNG  WEST. 


of  the  Amei'ican  continent,  to  return  at  the 
expiration  of  one  year. 

We  had  the  choice  between  travel  by  aero- 
plane and  a  sea  voyage.  The  first  was  less 
expensive  and  would  have  saved  time  ;  however, 
we  chose  the  second  mode  of  crossing  the  ocean, 
partly  for  the  sake  of  its  novelty,  partly  because 
one  can  travel  more  comfortably  by  ship  than 
by  aeroplane. 

Strange  to  say,  ship-building  had  not  been 
improved  in  the  same  proportion  as  had  other 
branches  of  architecture.  Our  shii)s  were  still 
propelled  by  steam,  which  was  produced  by  coal- 
oil  instead  of  coal,  and  they  differed  not  much 
from  the  steamers  that  crossed  the  ocean  two 
centuries  ago.  It  is  true  that  our  ships  are 
built  of  aluminum  and  that  the  danger  of  their 
springing  a  leak  is  reduced  to  a  minimum. 
Between  a  double  wall,  the  fibei's  of  a  plant  are 
pressed,  which  swell  to  such  an  extent  when 
water  reaches  them  that  they  will  stop  up  any 
hole  or  rent  w  licli  by  accident  may  damage  the 
outward  hull  of  the  vessel ;  otherwise,  the  form 
of  the  vessel,  its  machinery  and  its  inner 
arrangements,  have  remained  the  same  as  before. 

We  make  somewhat  quicker  time ;  still  it 
takes  four  days  and  four  nights  to  reach  the 
nearest  European  port. 


YOUNG  WEST.  240 

The  reasons  why  so  little  progress  lias  been 
made  in  the  art  of  ship-buiklinj^  are  numerous. 
■PI  On  land,  electricity  can  be  obtained  from 
our  power  stations,  but  on  the  ocean  we  have 
to  rely  upon  steam  as  the  only  possible  means 
of  propulsion.  A  great  deal  of  energy  has  been 
wasted  in  former  ages  in  the  construction  of 
submarine  vessels,  but  they  were  of  value  only 
when  used  to  destroy  the  ships  of  an  enemy. 
Wars  ceased  when  the  nations  began  to  under- 
stand that  the  destruction  of  the  property  of 
one  country  only  impoverished  the  rest ;  subma- 
rine ships  aie,  therefore,  of  no  further  use. 
Why  should  people  travel  underneath  the  water 
and  inhale  artificial  air  when  they  can  much 
more  conveniently  skim  over  the  surface  of  the 
sea  and  enjoy  the  bracing  atmosphere  of  the 
salt  water  ?  The  aeroplane  which  reduced  the 
time  in  which  Europe  could  be  reached  by  half, 
had  also  grown  in  favor,  and  owing  to  that  fact 
no  efforts  were  made  to  improve  the  navy.  We 
must  not  foi-get,  finally,  that  for  more  than  fifty 
years,  by  common  agreement,  migration  had 
been  interdicted.  That  occurred  at  the  time 
when  the  new  social  order  was  introduced. 
Each  continent  was  to  work  out  its  destiny  and 
educate  the  coming  generations  so  us  to  fit  them 
into  the  new  state  of  alfairs.     Ocean  travel  was, 


246  YOUNG  WEST. 

therefore,  greatly  reduced,  and  even  the  inter- 
change of  commodities  between  one  land  and 
the  other  was  limit*;d.  This  interruption  natu- 
rally retaided  progress  in  naval  architecture. 

We  went  on  board  the  steamer  "  Edison," 
named  in  memory  of  a  renowned  electrician  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  and  after  an  unevent- 
ful voyage  we  arrived  on  the  fou>th  day  in 
Brittany.  This  island  was  formerly  a  powerful 
country  of  its  own  ;  now  it  forms  simply  a 
province  of  Europe.  The  inhabitants  of  Brit- 
tany were  once  the  masters  of  the  world ;  they 
ruled  over  a  large  part  of  Asia,  owned  almost 
all  Australia  and  a  large  part  of  Africa,  not  to 
mention  the  many  islands  over  which  they  held 
dominion.  The  new  social  arrangement  which 
divided  the  globe  into  continents,  each  standing 
under  its  own  government,  reduced  this  part 
of  Europe  to  its  natural  position  among  the  rest. 
As  it  was  best  equipped  for  manufacturing  pur- 
poses, and  as  its  inhabitants  were  skilled  labor- 
ers, the  land  was  covered  with  factories  of  all 
kinds,  and  most  of  the  commodities  which  our 
country  exchanged  with  Europe  are  manu- 
factured upon  British  soil.  Since  all  hostilities 
between  the  European  nations  hud  died  out,  and 
rapid  and  convenient  intercommunication  had 
made  near    neighbors   of   them,  the    European 


YOUNG   WEST.  247 


tribes  have  intermanifd  and  tlieir  various  lan- 
guages have  flown  into  one  dialect,  which  they 
speak  with  more  or  less  purity,  as  we  do  the 
language  of  our  own  country.  For  Internatioiuil 
exchange  of  thought  they  use  Volapiik. 

The  tourists  find  many  remarkable  antiquities 
to  inspect  on  this  island  ;  the  museums  of  its 
cities  are  stocked  to  overflowing  with  relics  of 
the  civilization  that  preceded  ours;  otherwise, 
life  is  precisely  the  same  as  at  home.  The 
cities  are  built  after  the  same  pattern,  the  politi- 
cal administration  is  the  same  as  that  developed 
by  us,  and  the  occupation  of  the  people,  as  well 
as  their  mode  of  living,  does  not  materially 
differ  from  ours.  The  only  difference  which 
I  noticed  was,  that  they  inclined  more  towards 
manufacture  than  towards  agriculture,  and  that 
the  arts  were  less  represented  here  than  1  found 
them  represented  in  those  European  provinces 
which  were  formerly  known  as  France,  Italy, 
and  Germany. 

London  is  still  an  immense  city,  as  large 
almost  as  New  York,  but  neither  the  luxury 
nor  the  misery  for  which  it  was  so  renowned  in 
ancient  times,  and  of  which  the  writers  of  pre- 
vious ages  speak  so  frequently,  is  now  to  be 
found  there.  Every  trace  of  them  luus  been 
wiped  out.      A  district  of  the  city,  called  White 


248  YOUNG  WEST. 

Chapel,  which,  like  the  North  End  of  ancient 
Boston,  had  been  the  resort  of  the  submerged 
classes,  and  hence  reeked  with  filth  and  squalor, 
contains  now  beautiful  squares,  in  which  happy 
citizens  naake  happy  homes. 

Upon  my  arrival,  I  reported  at  once  to  the 
American  representative,  whom  I  knew  person- 
ally very  well.  lie  introduced  me  to  the  chief 
of  the  exchange  department,  to  whom  I  had  to 
deliver  the  drafts  issued  by  my  government, 
in  order  to  receive  from  him  an  instalment  of 
expenditure  blanks  that  would  pass  in  all  parts 
of  Europe.  We  conversed  in  Volapiik,  and,  to 
my  annoyance,  he  addressed  me  as  "  Mr.  Young 
West."  Otherwise,  I  found  him  a  very  pleas- 
ant host.  He  introduced  me  to  other  members 
of  the  administration,  especially  to  the  chief 
of  the  department  of  sewerage,  who  begged  me 
to  explain  my  discoveries  and  the  success  which 
had  so  far  accompanied  my  experiments. 

By  way  of  the  submarine  tunnel  we  reached 
the  continent,  and  travelling  by  rail,  aeroplane 
and  river  boats,  with  an  occasional  divergence 
from  the  direct  route  on  bicycles,  we  finally 
reached  Berlin,  the  seat  of  the  European  admin- 
istration. 

The  province  of  (Germany  had  been  first  in 
the  field  to  discover  the  principles  of  our  pres- 


YOUNG  WEST.  249 

ent  system,  and  the  fermentation  had  spread 
from  here.  No  wonder,  therefore,  that  the 
system  has  reached  here  its  highest  perfection. 
At  k-ast,  I  observed  many  arrangements  which 
I  thought  might  be  copied  by  us  to  advantage. 
The  hospital  service  I  found  especially  superb. 
Admirable  care  is  fallen  to  make  a  patient  com- 
fortable and  to  cure  him  in  as  short  a  time  as  is 
possible.  I  noticed  machines  by  which  the 
temperature  of  a  room  could  be  regulated  in 
such  a  manner  that  it  corresponded  precisely  to 
the  needs  of  a  patient.  Also  the  asylums  in 
which  they  keep  lunatics  were  most  excellently 
managed. 

Not  that  I  undervalue  our  own  accomplish- 
ments, or  that  I  deprecate  the  endeavors  of  our 
own  officials  to  do  their  work  well,  but  I  was 
forced  to  acknowledge  that  the  European  admin- 
istration excels  ours  in  precision,  for  which  fact, 
however,  I  found  au  expLanation. 

For  several  centuries  the  European  nations 
had  accustomed  themselves  to  the  strict  dis- 
cipline which  the  service  in  their  old  military 
armies  prescribed.  Their  energies,  of  course, 
had  then  been  falsely  directed  to  the  destruction 
of  life  and  property,  but,  nevertheless,  they  had 
learned  to  work  together,  one  for  all,  and  all  for 
one,  at  least  iu  this  one  direction.     When  they 


250  YOUNG   WEST. 

adopted  the  tnter  system  and  applied  military 
methods  to  the  pursuit  of  peaceful  enterprises, 
the  training  which  they  had  received,  and  which 
through  inheritance  had  become  a  part  of  their 
nature,  made  the  work  easier  for  them  and  fit- 
ted them  better  for  their  new  duties.  If  this 
hypothesis  is  not  the  correct  one,  I  can  offer  no 
other,  nor  can  I  explain  why  the  service  of 
Europe  is  carried  on  in  many  respects  with 
greater  precision  than  it  is  in  our  own  country. 

While  stopping  in  Berlin,  we  went  one  even- 
ing to  a  concert,  at  which  some  artists  of  great 
renown  were  to  play.  I  had  not  carefully  read 
the  programme,  or  the  surprise  which  awaited 
me  upon  that  occasion  would  not  have  been  so 
great.  A  lady  violinist  appeared  upon  the 
stage.  She  was  a  portly  woman  of  my  own 
age;  her  hair  was  changing  into  white,  but  her 
eyes  were  yet  full  of  lustre.  A  storm  of 
applause  greeted  her  when  she  entered ;  she 
seemed  to  be  a  favorite  with  the  audience,  and  I 
inquired  of  a  neighbor,  who  had  frantically 
applauded,  who  the  artist  was.  "  She  is  an 
American,"  said  he,  "but  keep  still;  she  begins 
to  play." 

I  had  heard  the  same  concerto  before,  but 
what  is  more,  I  had  heard  it  interpreted  in  the 
same    manner;  the    same   full  tones  had   been 


YOUNG  WEST.  251 


drawn  from  the  instrument,  wliich  now,  as  then, 
seemed  to  talk,  to  laugh,  to  sigh  and  to  weep, 
only  that  the  musician  showed  now  a  still 
greater  mastery  of  her  art. 

"That  is  Violet,"  I  whispered  to  my  wife. 
We  listened  with  greater  interest,  and  at  the 
same  time  I  scanned  carefully  her  features. 

The  furrows  on  her  forehead  could  not  lia\e 
been  drawn  by  time  alone  ;  her  life,  it  seemed  to 
me,  could  not  have  passed  serenely,  but  wliat 
was  it  that  had  caused  her  to  age  so  abnormally  ? 
What  was  it  that  caused  the  instrument  to 
betray  the  troubled  heart  of  the  artist. 

For  many,  many  years,  1  had  lost  sight  of  her. 
I  had  heard  that  she  had  maiiied  a  sculptor, 
that  she  had  chosen  the  pi'ofessiou  of  teacher  of 
music  in  a  conservatory,  and  that  she  was  sent 
from  time  to  time  to  play  at  concerts  in  large 
cities.  My  love  for  music,  which  had  grown  up 
so  suddenly,  had  died  away  as  quickly  ;  I  liad 
not  had  time  to  keep  myself  posted  as  in  previ- 
ous years  in  musical  matters.  What  had  I  •ten 
•her  history  ? 

She  had  finished,  and  we  joined  heartily  in 
the  applause  which  rewardccl  her  and  which  she 
so  well  deserved.  Later  in  the  evening,  she 
played  another  number  with  the  same  success, 


252  YOUNG  WEST. 

and  the  audience  would  not  allow  her  to  with- 
draw until  she  had  given  them  an  encore. 

I  sent  one  of  the  ushers  with  our  cards  to  her, 
and  received  word  that  she  would  be  pleased  to 
meet  us  after  the  concert.  Again,  I  witnessed 
the  honors  that  were  showered  upon  her  by 
musical  critics  and  enthusiasts  in  the  green 
room.  Now,  as  in  years  gone  by,  she  received 
the  homage  of  her  admirers  as  a  matter  of 
course.  I  introduced  my  wife  to  her,  and  she 
proposed  that  we  should  take  lunch  together  in 
private  at  the  hotel  in  which  she  resided. 

Violet  had  remained  the  same  charming  and 
self-possessed  woman  that  she  had  been  more 
than  thirty  years  ago.  5he  had  passed  through 
many  disagreeable  experiences,  which  she  did 
not  hesitate  to  tell  us.  She  had  been  married 
four  times,  and  as  many  times  divorced.  In 
vain  she  had  been  hunting  after  an  ^ideal,  and 
as  often  as  she  thought  she  had  found  a  man 
who  fulfilled  it,  she  was  disillusioned. 

"•  I  should  have  never  married, "  said  she, 
"  because  I  am  too  selfish.  Accustomed  to  be 
worshipped  for  my  art,  I  demanded  to  be  wor- 
shipped in  the  same  manner  for  my  person  by 
my  husband.  The  men  I  have  married  never 
found  a  companion  in  me.  Indeed  it  was  all 
my  fault.       I    took    never  an  interest    in  their 


YOUNG  WEST.  253 

work  ;  I  never  tried  to  make  them  happy, — I 
lived  for  my  art.  When  they  proposed  the 
severance  of  an  alliance  that  brought  them  no 
happiness,  knowing  my  faults,  I  acquiesced.  I 
served  the  country  to  the  best  of  my  ability, 
and,  now  that  I  have  retired  from  the  army,  I 
travel  lonely  from  city  to  city  for  no  other  pur- 
pose than  to  play  to  audiences  and  to  enjoy  the 
tribute  that  is  given  to  my  art.  In  these 
regions,  I  find  a  greater  number  of  connoisseurs 
than  elsewhere,  so  I  shall  stay  here  quite  a 
while  yet." 

She  was  the  mother  of  two  children,  but  as 
neither  of  them  had  inherited  any  of  her  talent, 
she  cared  little  for  them ;  in  fact  she  did  not 
even  know  their  whereabouts. 

My  wife  felt  a  great  deal  of  compassion  and 
sympathy  for  her.  "  All  the  love  of  her  art  of 
which  she  speaks,"  said  she,  "is  only  a  pretence, 
with  which  she  is  deceiving  herself;  it  was  her 
misfortune  that  her  first  choice  of  a  husband 
was  a  mistaken  one,  and  solely  because  she  has 
never  found  her  true  happiness  in  the  compan- 
ionship of  a  husband,  her  life  has  remained 
without  a  mission.  The  aj)plause  of  audiences, 
which  she  so  eagerly  seeks,  is  merely  an  ariiCsthe- 
tic  which  she  applies  to  seek   forgetfulness.     I 


254  YOUNG  WEST. 

pity  her  with  all  my  soul,  and  do  not  envy  her 
the  laurels  which  she  wins." 

During  our  stay  in  Berlin,  we  met  Violet 
frequently ;  the  two  women  became  intimate 
friends,  and  when  we  parted  Violet  declared  that 
she  had  spent  in  Emily's  company  more  happy 
hours  than  she  had  known  for  years.  She 
promised  to  call  on  us  if  she  ever  should  return 
to  America. 

The  mountainous  regions  of  Europe,  especially 
the  Alps,  were  delightful ;  but  I  had  seen  similar 
landscapes  before  in  my  travels  across  the 
American  continent.  Had  it  not  been  for  the. 
people  with  whom  we  became  acquainted,  and 
among  whom  we  made  many  friends,  our  trip, 
as  far  as  seeing  novel  sights  was  concerned, 
would  have  been  rather  uninteresting. 

In  Italy,  we  visited  the  places  that  had  lately 
been  destroyed  by  earthquakes.  They  had  been 
rebuilt,  and  but  few  traces  of  the  calamity  were 
left.  Laborers  had  been  sent  b}^  the  govern- 
ments from  the  remotest  parts  of  Europe  to 
repair  the  damage  done;  the  other  continents 
had  sent  supplies,  and  in  very  short  time  the 
sufferers  had  been  made  comfortable  again. 

We  joined  a  number  of  tourists  in  a  trip  to 
Africa.  By  boat,  we  passed  through  the  chan- 
nel that  had  been  built  a  hundied  years  ago   to 


f 


YOUXG  WEST. 


connect  the  Mediterranean  Sea  with  the  interioi 
of  Africa.     By  means  of  it,  the  desolate  tract  of 
hind,  foi'merly  known  as  the  desert  of  Sahara,! 
liad  been  flooded  with  the  waters  of  tlie  Atlan- 
tic, and  ships  now  sail  where  formerly  camelsl 
slowly    wended  their  way.     The  climatic    con- 
ditions, not  alone  of  this  continent,  but  also  of| 
the  European  provinces  bordering  on  the  Aled- 
iterranean,  were  so  advantageously  changed  byl 
this  masterpiece  of  engineering  that  the  outlayl 
in  labor  was  amply  rewarded. 

The  interior  of  Africa  was  still  the  sore  spot 
in  our  civilization.  The  governments  of  this 
continent  had  still  to  fijxht  atjainst  atavistic  ten- 
deneies.  'There  were  people  yet  found  among 
them,  who,  without  knowing  why,  would  lioard 
all  kinds  of  useless  articles.  Some  would  quar- 
rel over  the  possession  of  certain  things,  and 
instead  of  applying  to  a  court  of  arbitration, 
they  would  fall  upon  each  other  in  a  savage 
manner.  Neither  had  the  women  of  that  con- 
tinent reached  the  high  standard  of  culture  at 
which  the  women  of  other  countries  had  ar- 
rived; hence,  it  yet  happened  that  men  would 
quarrel  about  the  possession  of  a  female  who 
took  their  fancy. 

Owing  to  the  hot  climate,  the  people  of  these 
regions    were  not  enterprising  ;    only  a  few  of 


250  YOUNG  WEST. 


them  had  travelled,  or  were  informed  in  regard 
to  the  -  conditions  in  which  the  rest  of  the 
ntuions  lived.  The  masses  were  yet  ignorant 
of  many  things. 

In  conversations  with  us,  some  of  the  more 
cultured  among  them  inquired  what  measuies 
we  adopted  to  cure  atavism.  They  wished  to 
know  what  we  did  with  what  they  called  the 
criminal  classes.  They  could  hardly  believe  us 
when  we  told  them  that  such  classes  did  not 
exist  either  in  America.  Euroj^e,  Asia,  or  Aus- 
tralia and  they  took  notes  when  we  described 
to  them  liow  we  eradicated  these  brutal  traits 
in  our  nurseries  and  primary  schools  by  apply- 
ing the  liypnotic.  process.  With  high  appreci- 
ation, they  received  also  the  suggestions  of  a 
felh^wtourist,  who  had  been  a  professor  of 
sociology  in  one  of  the  European  colleges. 

*' In  the  beginning,"  said  he,  "our  modern 
governments  had  to  fight  these  self-same  tenden- 
cies of  theft  and  brutality.  How  did  they  cure 
them?  Whenever  a  person  was  found  in  whom 
greed  for  personal  accumulation  showed  itself, 
they  either  loaded  him  with  the  care  of  so  much 
personal  property  that  he  grew  weary  of  it,  cr 
they  employed  him  to  superintend  one  of  their 
museums.  Personal  feud  they  supprt'ssed  by 
putting  the  guilty  party  in  a  cage,  exposing  him 


YOUiXG  WEST.  257 


ill  this  condition  to  the  ridicule  of  the  people. 
After  he  had  promised  not  to  act  again  like  a 
brute,  they  transferred  him  to  a  distant  province 
where  his  disgrace  was  not  known,  and  in 
every  case  they  found  that,  after  such  a  treat- 
ment, he  behaved  properly.  Women  ceased  to 
be  the  objects  of  discord  after  they  had  learned 
to  take  care  of  themselves,  and  their  favors 
could  no  longer  be  bought  by  presents." 

The  African  gentlemen,  who  had  listened  to 
these  explanations  of  the  professor,  doubted 
whether  they  could  introduce  these  same  meth- 
ods with  effect  at  once,  but  promised  to  try,  the 
professor  admitting  that  such  reformations  can- 
not be  brought  about  in  a  short  time,  that 
generations  will  come  and  pass  before  a  satis- 
factory and  appreciable  change  of  conditions 
can  be  noticed, 

Asia  had  been  the  cradle  of  humanity ;  thus 
we  enlarged  our  knowledge  by  studying  the 
remnants  of  former  stages  of  civilization.  We 
found  the  people  highly  interesting.  Although 
their  mode  of  living  was  like  ours  in  many 
respects,  they  seemed  to  care  less  for  the  com- 
forts of  life  than  we  do.  The  youngest  among 
them  appeared  in  their  way  of  thinking  to  be 
much  older  than  we  were.  They  had  a  pecu- 
liar wav  of  looking  at  man's  mission  on  earth, 


258  YOUNG  WEST. 

and  they  gave  a  great  deal  of  thought  to  the 
vexed  problem  of  the  origin  and  the  end  of  all 
things.  Their  theories  sounded  strange  to  us. 
They  believed  that  the  world,  as  they  saw  it, 
was  merely  a  deceptive  vision,  a  kind  of  fata 
morgana,  and  that  life  was  barely  worth  living. 
They  found  their  highest  consolation  in  the 
thought  that,  after  a  long  process  of  coming  and 
going,  the  human  soul  will  finally  reach  a  state 
of  rest,  which  they  called  Nirvana.  They  be- 
lieved also  that  after  a  certain  cycle  of  years  the 
same  persons  will  appear  again  in  life  under  the 
same  conditions,  and  act  out  their  existence  pre 
cisely  in  the  same  manner  in  which  they  had 
formerly  passed  through  it.  These  strange  the- 
ories seemed  to  enhance  their  happiness  and  did 
not  interfere  with  the  working  of  the  social 
order  that  had  been  established  everywhere  ;  we 
found,  therefore,  no  reason  to  argue  the  ques- 
tion with  them,  or  to  force  our  beliefs  upon 
ihem,  especially  as  we  are  not  sure  that  our 
theories,  explaining  the  beginning  and  the  end, 
are  any  more  correct,  or  help  any  more  to  a  true 
solution  of  the  problem. 

The  year  had  not  yet  passed,  and  we  felt 
already  tired  of  sight-seeing  and  yearned  after 
a  more  regulated  mode  of  living  than  ti  availing 
from  place  to  place  permits. 


YOUNG  WEST.  259 

We  rejoiced  when  we  readied  the  Ameiican 
continent,  fully  convinced  of  the  trutli  oi  tiie 
old  saying:  "  There  is  no  place  like  home." 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

During  the  time  of  my  absence,  the  question 
had  been  discussed  again  whether  it  was  not 
time  to  take  up  the  work  of  reorganizing  the 
sewerage  system  on  the  lines  which  I  had 
proposed  many  years  ago,  and  demonstrated  by 
successful  experiments  to  be  not  alone  urgent 
but  feasible. 

Opponents  had  b.^en  silenced  in  so  far  as 
the  practicability  of  the  enterprise  was  con- 
cerned, but  the  years  of  misfortune  tlirough 
which  we  had  passed  had  taxed  so  much  the 
working  capacity  of  the  nation  that  objectors 
claimed,  people  were  not  prepared  at  present  to 
enter  upon  a  work  of  such  magnitude.  The 
artisans,  manufacturers,  machinists,  electrici  ins 
and  architects  claimed  tiiat  with  the  new  ent(^r- 
pi'ise  on  hand  their  daily  hours  of  work  could 
not  be  lessened,  but  were  likely  to  be  increased. 
The  afri'iculturists,  on  the  other  hand,  demon- 
stiated  that  unless  they  gave  longer  hours  to 
their    work  they  would  not    be  able  to  supply 


260  YOUNG  WEST. 

the  increasing  wants  of  an  increasing  population 
from  a  soil  that  had  gradually  become  exhausted. 
Some  departments  were,  therefore,  in  favor  of 
taking  up  the  work  where  I  had  dropped  it 
on  account  of  the  disastrous  years ;  others  in- 
sisted that  the  people  required  a  rest  for  a 
number  of  years,  and  that  no  new  work  should 
be  taken  up  for  quite  a  while. 

The  time  for  the  election  of  a  new  president 
had  arrived.  If  I  desired  ever  to  reach  the  goal 
of  my  ambition,  this  was  the  time,  because  only 
in  rare  cases  were  the  people  inclined  to  elect 
to  the  presidency  a  man  who  was  older  than 
fifty-five  or  fifty-six  years,  or  who  had  been 
retired  from  the  public  service  for  more  than 
five  years.  If,  however,  I  intended  to  offer  my- 
self as  a  candidate,  the  battle  had  to  be  fought 
on  the  ground  of  the  principle  before  mentioned. 

Many  of  my  friends  encouraged  me  to  seek 
the  office.  Robert  Dudley,  one  of  my  oldest 
friends,  was  particularly  urgent,  and  impetu- 
ously brought  my  name  before  the  conventions 
of  various  of  the  guilds.  The  reader  will,  per- 
haps, recognize  in  him  my  playmale  in  the 
nursery,  known  then  as  Bobby  —  the  very  one 
who  was  solely  responsible  for  the  nickname 
''  Young  West,"  which  since  that  time  has  so 
persistently  clung  to  me. 


YOUNG  WEST.  201 

His  career,  too,  had  been  a  remarkable  one. 
His  natural  inclinations  had  made  him  useful  in 
the  large  slaughter  houses  of  the  nation,  and  he 
had  chosen  that  occupation.  He  rose  from 
office  to  office  until  he  finally  became  head  of 
the  section  which  took  charge  of  the  meat 
supply  of  the  whole  country.  During  the  time 
when  I  served  in  the  cabinet,  he,  too,  was  a 
member  of  it,  leaving,  however,  both  this 
honored  position  and  the  army  one  year  before 
me.  His  connection  with  the  various  guilds  of 
the  agricultural  department  made  him  a  valu- 
able advocate  for  my  nomination. 

The  nominating  conventions  proposed,  there- 
fore, to  the  choice  of  the  people,  my  name  and 
that  of  a  former  member  of  the  electrical  depart- 
ment. 

Mr.  Blank,  my  rival,  was  a  very  deserving 
man,  who  had  enriched  the  country  by  various 
valuable  inventions.  Like  myself,  he  had 
been  honored  with  the  blue  ribbon.  He  was  a 
personal  friend  of  mine;  he  had  been  in  the  cabi- 
net with  me,  and  we  had  worked  faitlifiilly 
together  during  the  trying  years  of  the  epidemic. 
Personally,  of  course,  we  had  no  fault  to  find 
with  each  other;  we  disagreed  only  on  the 
principles  in  question.  His  friends  and  sup- 
porters were  as    numerous   as   were    mine,   and 


262  YOUNG  WEST. 

when  the  nomiiuitioii  was  announced,  the  know- 
ing ones  predicted  that  whoever  of  us  would  be 
elected  would  become  president  only  by  a  small 
majority. 

We  both  began  now  to  travel  and  to  address 
the  voters  in  order  to  explain  to  them  the  real 
issue  upon  which  their  votes  were  solicited. 
We  often  appeared  together  before  an  audience? 
and,  as  there  were  no  personalities  in  the  cam- 
paign, we  having  no  cause  whatsoever  to  belittle 
each  others  merits,  these  discussions  and  debates 
tended  to  bring  our  differences  more  accurately 
before  the  people. 

Mr.  Blank  was  the  better  orator ;  his  training 
had  developed  his  gift  of  speech,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  would  he  carry  an  audience  by  storm. 
I  could  win  the  favor  of  my  hearers  only  by  the 
better  arguments.  I  stated  the  unreasonable- 
ness of  wasting  the  earth's  vitality  when  we 
could  apply  it  to  improve  not  only  our  own  con- 
ditions but  those  of  the  generations  that  are  to 
follow ;  I  showed  how  the  work,  once  completed, 
would  save  labor  and  that  all  fear  of  a  famine  or 
even  scarcity  would  be  forever  banished.  How 
could  we  perform  the  necessary  work  of  the 
social  body  well  unless  we  were  all  well  fed? 
How  could  we  produce  a  sufficient  supply  if  we 
did  not  return  to  mother  earth  what  we  yearly 


YOUNG  WEST.  2G3 


draw  from  her?  I  admitted  that  for  a  number 
of  years  an  additional  expenditure  of  labor 
would  be  demanded,  but,  after  that,  so  much 
less  would  be  asked  of  the  people. 

Perhaps  it  was  the  sounder  argument  that  I 
offered;  perhaps  it  was  my  appeal  to  the  indus- 
trious habits  of  the  people  which  brought  me 
their  votes ;  still,  I  cannot  help  suspecting  that 
my  name  was  a  great  help  to  me.  The  nick- 
name, "Young  West,"  which  had  so  frequently 
irritated  me,  and  which,  to  hear,  caused  me 
even  pain  in  this  campaign,  had  become  a  catch- 
word that  took  with  the  people.  We  hardly 
imagined  what  a  power  a  catch-word  is  to  move 
the  sympathies  and  imaginations  of  the  masses 
of  men.  The  rallying  cry  was  "  Young  West 
against  Mr.  Blank,"  and  this  very  adjective 
"  Young,"  though  it  was  not  appropriately  con- 
nected with  my  name,  carried  the  day.  The 
appellation  took  the  fancy  of  the  voters.  But 
the  widest  divergencies  of  opinion  as  to  the 
merits  of  the  proposed  change  obtained  among 
the  sections  of  the  various  departments,  and 
even  among  the  members  of  a  section,  so  that 
the  wisest  would  not  risk  any  prophecy  as  to  the 
outcome  of  the  election. 

The  days  previous  to  election  day  were  days 
of  great  mental  strain  to  me.      Not  that  I  feared 


264  YOUNG  WEST. 

a  great  barm  would  come  to  the  country 
if  I  should  fail;  not  that  I  had  any  personal 
advantages  to  expect;  quite  to  the  contrary,  I 
knew  that  my  capacity  for  work  would  be  taxed 
to  the  utmost;  but  I  was  human.  To  seek  the 
honor  of  an  office,  even  if  we  have  to  pay  for  it 
by  the  increased  work  connected  with  it,  was 
one  of  the  aspirations  which  our  system  of 
training  inculcates  into  the  mind  of  every  child. 
I  had  striven  for  this  honor  for  many,  many 
years,  particularly  since  I  was  married.  My 
wife  had  always  kept  these  ambitious  desires 
ablaze,  and  now  failure  would  have  brought  me 
a  touch  of  humiliation.  How  selfish  I  was!  I 
thought  little  of  how  humiliation  would  affect 
my  rival ;  during  these  days  of  excitement  and 
anxiety  I  confess  I  thought  only  of  myself. 

At  last  the  hour  of  decision  came ;  reports 
began  to  arrive  from  all  parts  of  the  country  — 
some  favorable,  some  discouraging.  Then  the 
news  came  that  votes  were  cast  for  me  in  a 
sufficient  number  of  departments  to  assure  my 
election.  Finally,  the  official  telegram  an- 
nounced the  official  count;  the  figures  showed 
that  "  Young  West "  had  been  elected  president 
by  a  large  majority. 

I  heard  the  people  cheering  in  the  streets ; 
my    friends    filled  the  parlors  of    the  house    in 


YOUNG  WEST.  265 

which  I  resided,  ready  to  shake  hands  with  the 
president-elect;  my  wife  shed  tears  of  delight 
in  my  arras ;  my  children  and  my  nearest  rela- 
tives, who  had  come  to  be  with  me  on  this 
auspicious  day,  brought  me  their  congratula- 
tions. It  was  a  moment  of  exaltation,  of  su- 
preme emotion  ;  and  in  the  midst  of  my  honor 
and  triumph  came  into  my  mind  the  depressing 
thought  that  defeat  had  humiliated  my  friend 
Blank  in  the  same  degree  as  success  had  ele- 
vated me. 

Through  a  side-entrance  I  slipped  out  of  the 
house  and  sought  him,  asking  his  forgiveness  if 
my  success  should  have  caused  him  pain,  and 
begging  him  to  help  me  accomplish  the  mission 
for  which  the  people  had  evidently  chosen  me. 

He  met  me  with  the  same  generous  and 
manly  spirit  he  had  always  exhibited  in  every 
stage  of  his  career.  Now  that  all  was  over, 
he  was  ready  to  yield  to  the  public  will ;  he 
promised  to  exert  whatever  influence  he  pos- 
sessed in  my  behalf,  and  to  help  me  in  the  com 
ing  work  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 

I  took  him  with  me  to  my  house,  and  the 
crowds  that  filed  by  to  congratulate  me  on 
the  occasion  saw  us  together.  They  shook 
hands  with  him,  as  they  did  with  me;  they 
cheered  us  both  lustily.     I  felt  doubly  happy, 


260  YOUNG  WEST. 

because  I  had  won  him  to  share  in  the  tri- 
umph. 

On  the  day  appointed  for  the  ceremony,  I 
was  inaugurated  into  the  office,  and  inasmuch 
as  my  election  meant  the  speedy  performance  of 
a  proposed  work,  I  began  it  at  once. 

Policy  had  not  dictated  my  conduct  toward 
Mr.  Blank.  It  had  been  entirely  the  result  of  a 
strong  momentary  emotion,  but  it  won  for  me 
the  hearts  of  the  people. 

Blank  himself  became  now  a  most  eloquent 
advocate  of  my  plans.  "  I  opposed  '  Young 
West,'"  said  he,  "because  I  thought  you  weary 
and  worn  out  by  the  additional  work  which  the 
disastrous  years  had  imposed  upon  you.  I  was 
evidently  mistaken,  since  you  feel  yourselves 
strong,  you  show  willingness  to  undertake  an 
enterprise  of  so  great  dimensions,  I  say,  very 
well,  fulfill  your  pledges." 

I  issued  a  call  for  volunteers,  and  the  veterans 
of  all  guilds  and  of  all  provinces  responde  1  at 
once.  So  eager  were  they  to  complete  the 
work,  that,  not  unfrequently,  I  had  to  put  on 
the  brakes  lest  they  would  do  harm  to  them- 
selves. 

Before  two  years  had  passed,  the  oceans  were 
fed  no  longer  with  the  vitals  of  the  earth ;  what 
was  taken  from  the  land  was  returned  to  it  after 


YOUN^G  WEST.  267 


it  had  served  to  support  human  life.  At  tln^ 
expiration  of  my  term,  the  transfoimation  of 
the  sewerage  system  of  the  land  was  completed. 
The  country  bloomed  like  a  garden,  it  yielded 
fruit  in  abundance,  and  the  people  blessed  me 
for  it. 

Other  nations  sent  their  delegates  to  examine 
our  system  in  order  to  copy  it,  which,  of  course 
increased  the  love  and  the  respect  my  fellow- 
citizens  extended  to  me. 

The  years  of  my  administration  were  also 
otherwise  prosperous.  No  disasters  of  any  kind 
befell  the  community;  crops  were  plentiful;  the 
people  were  contented,  and  had  it  not  been  for 
the  extra  work  which  the  construction  of  my 
new  system  of  sewerage  demanded,  my  labors 
during  the  presidential  term  would  have  been 
only  nominal.  Like  a  well-oiled  machine,  soci- 
ety moved  without  friction  during  these  years, 
so  that  it  could  be  truthfully  said  that  the 
presidential  administration  of  *'  Young  West " 
was  one  of  the  most  successful  ever  recorded  in 
the  annals  of  the  country. 

I  had  now  served  ray  fellow-citizens  many 
years.  Thirty  years  in  the  army,  and,  after  a 
lapse  of  five  years,  as  president  for  five  years. 
Having  reached  my  sixty  first  year,  T  now  re- 
tired for  good,  but   as    it  was  customary    that 


/- 


268  YOUNG  WEST. 

every  ex-president  should  make  himself  useful 
to  the  country  for  five  more  years  as  a  member 
of  the  World's  Court  of  Arbitration,  I  remained 
still  on  deck.  The  duties  of  that  office  were  not 
onerous,  though  they  were  of  high  importance. 

The  ex-presidents  of  the  five  continents 
formed  a  Court  of  Arbitration.  Whenever  two 
governments  happened  to  come  into  a  conflict 
which  they  could  not  amicaVdy  settle  between 
themselves,  they  brought  their  grievances  before 
this  court.  Their  representatives  in  the  court 
would  then  assume  the  parts  of  plaintiff  and 
defendant,  and  their  three  colleagues  the  posi- 
tion of  judges.  If,  for  example,  differences 
arose  between  Europe  and  Asia,  the  ex-presi- 
dents of  these  continents  placed  the  matter 
before  the  tribunal,  and  the  ex-presidents  of 
America,  Africa  and  Australia,  after  having 
heard  all  the  evidence,  passed  judgment,  which 
in  all  cases  was  to  be  heeded. 

During  the  five  years  in  which  I  served  in 
that  capacity,  this  court  was  convened  only 
twice :  once  in  a  conflict  between  Asia  and 
Africa;  another  time  in  a  suit  which  our 
government  brought  against  the  administration 
of  Europe.  In  both  cases  the  difficulties  were 
satisfactorily  settled. 

I  looked  forward   upon   my  approaching  old 


YOTJNG  WEST.  2G9 

age  witli  ]oj.  My  life's  waik  was  done  and  I 
was  yet  able  to  be  thi'illed  by  many  pleasure- 
giving  sensations.  My  children  filled  honorable 
positions  in  the  army,  according  to  their  talents 
and  tastes.  I  conld  not  expect  that  they  should 
reach  the  same  prominence  in  public  affairs 
that  my  good  fortune  had  secured  for  me;  as 
long  as  they  were  happy  in  their  chosen  pro- 
fessions, why  should  their  lack  of  ambition  trou- 
ble me"'' 

I  laid  out  my  plans  how  to  divide  my  time 
between  study  and  recreation.  As  I  still  loved 
physical  exercises,  I  decided  to  leave  Washing- 
ton and  to  retire  to  Denver,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  which  city  I  had  spent  four  pleasant 
years  when  I  was  at  high  school.  I  selected 
that  city  partly  because  the  farms  in  which 
I  had  worked  when  a  boy  offc^red  me  a  chance 
to  exercise  my  body  in  a  pleasant  manner; 
partly  because  my  sister  Edith  lived  in  retire- 
ment in  the  same  place. 

I  had  not  seen  her  for  many  years.  The  last 
time  we  had  met  was  at  the  cremation  of  my 
mother,  but  as  this  happened  during  the  calami- 
tous year  of  the  epidemic,  when,  on  account  of 
the  high  rate  of  mortality,  these  ceremonials 
were  cut  short,  we  had  barely  time  to  converse 
for   a   few   moments.     She   had    to   return    to 


270  YOUNG  WEST. 

the  hospital,  in  which  her  presence  as  physician 
was  needed;  I  had  to  return  to  m^^  duties 
as  cabinet  officer,  which,  at  that  trying  time, 
demanded  my  whole  strength  and  attention. 

My  wife  was  satisfied  with  my  arrangements, 
and  we  prepared  to  go  westward. 

We  had  lived  in  the  capital  for  the  last 
twenty  years,  and  connted  friends  there  by  the 
hundreds.  Before  leaving  they  showed  us 
their  good  will,  as  had  our  fellow-ciiizens  of 
Atlantis.  The  largest  hall  in  the  city  hardly 
held  the  crowds  of  friends  who  came  to  shake 
hands  with  us,  and  the  orations  which  were 
made  on  the  occasion,  and  which  set  forth  the 
esteem  and  love  which  the  assembled  guests 
bore  us,  appeared  to  me  like  the  eulogies  in 
a  cremator}'-,  with  the  only  difference  that  the 
eulogized  person  was  alive  and  heard  them.  If 
there  exists  any  true  reward  for  faithful  services 
rendered  to  the  community,  it  is  the  apprecia- 
tion of  the  ones  who  are  benefited  by  them. 
People  will  give  their  best  work  during  a  whole 
lifetime,  in  order  that  their  efforts  should  be 
praised  by  their  surviving  friends  after  death, 
though  they  themselves  cannot  hear  what  is 
said  about  them.  I  had  the  satisfaction  of 
receiving  the  expressions  of  approval  on  the 
part  of  friends,  none  of  whom  could  ever  expect 


TOUNG  WEST.  271 


any  personal  benefits  from  me.  Had  tliey  not 
felt  sincerely  what  they  said,  nothing  would 
have  induced  them  to  say  it. 

Still  larger  were  the  crowds  of  people  that 
surrounded  the  aeroplane  station  when  we  de- 
parted. As  on  the  occasion  when  I  received 
the  blue  ribbon,  handkei-chiefs  were  waved  as 
we  rose  in  the  air,  and  from  the  distance,  came 
to  us  the  shout :  "  Farewell  to  YOUNG  WEST  ! 
Young  West!    West!" 

Emily  was  sitting  on  deck  by  my  side,  resting 
her  head  on  my  shoulder.  I  whispered  into  her 
ear :  "  All  this  happiness  I  owe  to  you ;  they 
ought  to  cheer  you,  not  me."  She  answered  : 
"  Let  it  rather  be  as  it  is ;  I  feel  so  proud,  so 
proud  of  you." 


CHAPTER  XX. 

After  we  had  been  comfortably  settled  in  our 
new  home,  and  had  begun  the  routine  of  our 
new  life,  we  called  one  day  on  my  sister.  We 
found  her  busy  arranging  ^ome  of  her  papers, 
and,  as  it  happened,  she  just  laid  aside  a  book 
which  seemed  familiar  to  me.  I  remembered 
havins:  seen  it  before.  It  was  the  volume  of 
recipes  which  ray  mother  had   taken  from  her 


272  YOUNG  WEST. 


father's  library  as  a  keepsake  after  his  death. 
Edith  told  me,  I  was  right ;  that  oy  way  of 
bequest  it  had  come  to  her  and  that  it  had 
served  her  to  good  purpose  many  a  time. 

"  This  reminds  me,'"  said  she,  looking  up  from 
her  work  of  assorting  papers,  "  I  have  in  my 
possession  something  that  will  surely  interest 
you.  You  know  mother  died  in  my  arms ;  she 
was  nursed  in  the  hospital,  in  which  then  I 
served  as  head  physician.  After  her  cremation 
I  returned  her  personal  property  to  the  stock, 
rooms,  keeping  only  her  papers.  For  many 
years  I  left  them  untouched,  with  the  exception 
of  grandfather's  recipes.  Once,  however,  when 
I  assorted  them  in  an  hour  of  leisure,  as  you  see 
me  now  going  through  these  papers,  a  bundle  of 
letters  fell  into  my  hands,  which  I  opened  and 
found  to  be  epistles  which  your  father  had 
directed  to  mother  when  he  was  absent  on  lec- 
ture trips.  I  read  one  or  two  of  them,  but,  as 
they  had  little  interest  for  me,  I  put  them 
aside,  intending  to  give  them  to  you  when- 
ever we  should  next  meet.  The  matter,  after  a 
while,  escaped  my  memory,  and  had  you  not  by 
chance  remembered  having  seen  the  recipes,  I 
might  never  have  thought  of  it.  Here  are  the 
letters.    Perhaps  they  will  interest  you."    Saying 


YOUNG  WEST.  273 


this,  she  handed  me  a  bundle  of  papers,  yellow 
with  age. 

My  curiositj^  was  indeed  aroused.  My  fa- 
ther's life  was  so  much  bound  up  with  mine, 
and  the  lectures  which  he  once  delivered,  and 
which  I  kept  in  my  possession  as  a  sacred  heir- 
loom, had  so  frequently  given  me  food  for 
thought  that  I  valued  every  scrap  of  manu- 
script coming  from  him.  That  very  evening  I 
sat  down  with  my  wife  to  read  these  epistles. 

We  both  were  disappointed;  they  were  quaint 
in  style  and  abounded  in  sentiments  which  we 
could  scarcely  comprehend.  Father  apparently 
looked  upon  his  wife  as  upon  a  person  who 
could  not  well  take  care  of  herself,  and  over 
whom  he  was  set  to  keep  watch.  Some  pas- 
sages contained  superficial  flatteries,  by  which 
the  writer  evidently  intended  to  humor  his 
correspondent.  Whenever  he  described  sights 
that  were  new  to  him,  and  reflected  upon  them, 
he  showed  unmistakably  that  he  did  not  fully 
understand  the  subjects  about  which  he  was 
writing. 

We  were  about  to  stop  reading  that  evening, 
and  to  postpone  the  perusal  of  the  rest  of  the 
letters  to  some  other  evening,  when  we  came 
upon  an  envelope  which  was  not  addressed  to 
my    mother,    but    which    bore    the    somewhat 


274  TO  UNO  WEST. 


ominous  superscription  :  "  Confessions."  We 
opened  it  and  our  curiosity  grew,  when,  besides 
a  package  of  papers  written  in  his  hand,  a  slip, 
wi'itten  by  mother,  fell  from  it.  My  wife 
picked  it  from  the  floor,  to  which  it  had 
fallen,  and  read : 

"  I  found  these  papers  after  the  death  of  my 
beloved  husband;  I  intended  to  burn  them,  but 
a  second  sober  thought  convinced  me  that  they 
might  be  of  value  to  posterity.  Love,  pity,  and 
reverence  persuaded  me  not  to  make  public 
these  pages  during  my  lifetime,  and  rather  to 
leave  it  to  chance  to  bring  them  to  the  notice  of 
people.  May  the  good  judgment  of  the  ones 
into  whose  possession  these  papers  may  fall 
decide  what  to  do  with  them. 

Edith  Leete  West. 

We  quickly  opened  the  manuscript,  and,  to 
our  great  surprise,  we  read  as  follows  : 

"  My  days  are  numbered ;  I  feel  my  life  fast 
ebbing  away,  but  I  am  not  afraid  to  die.  Quite 
to  the  contrary,  I  look  forward  to  the  final  dis- 
solution with  gladness.  Why?  Have  I  drained 
the  pleasures  of  life  to  the  last  drop  so  that 
nothing  remains  in  the  cup  but  the  bitter  dregs? 
Or  do  I  suffer  pain  or  privation  ?  By  no 
means.  I  am  weary  of  life  because  strange  cir- 
cumstances prevent  me  from  being  true  to 
myself  and  true  to  others." 


YOUNG  WEST.  275 


"I  call  it  now  a  misfortune  that  I  was  re- 
stored to  life  after  a  sleep  of  more  than  a  hnn- 
dred  years.  Oh,  that  this  sleep  would  never 
have  been  interrupted!  O!  that  I  had  died 
rather  than  have  been  resuscitated !  I  suffer 
unspeakably  because  I  suffer  iu  silence,  because 
there  is  nobody  whom  I  could  invite  into  my 
confidence.  There  are  none  who  could  under- 
stand me.  Not  even  my  faithful  wife  knows 
how  miserable  I  am,  and  if  she  knew,  I  doubt 
whether  she  could  sympathize  with  me.  I 
write  these  lines  in  the  silence  of  the  night, 
seeking  relief  by  thus  unburdening  my  troubled 
soul." 

"  When  I  awoke  from  my  protracted  slumber 
I  found  myself  in  a  world  so  different  from  the 
one  in  which  I  had  lived  before  that  I  am  often 
in  doubt  whether  all  is  not  a  dream.  So  differ- 
ent are  all  the  conditions  and  social  arrange- 
ments that  surround  me  from  those  to  which 
my  early  education  and  training  had  accustomed 
me,  that  I  am  thrown  in  constant  conflict  with  my- 
self. I  cannot  deny  that  during  my  sleep  the 
world  has  wonderfully  progressed ;  I  found  a 
haven  of  peace  in  place  of  a  battlefield ;  I  found 
a  loving  and  lovable  brotherhood  where  I  had  left 
individuals  fijrhtint;  with  individuals  for  a  crumb 
of  bread;  I  found  cleanliness  where  I  had  left 
squalor;  order  where  I  had  left  confusion.  I 
was  received  not  as  a  stranger  who  had  no  right 
to  a  living,  but  with  love  and  tolerance.  iVIy 
wants  were  liberally  supplied,  and  that  the 
faintest   feeling   of    dependency    should   be  re- 


276  YOUNG  WEST. 

moved,  I  was  given  employment  suitable  to  my 
abilities.  I  found  a  loving  wife,  and  if  death 
will  but  delay  his  approach  I  may  revel  even  in 
joys  of  fatherhood.  How  can  I,  therefore, 
express  openly  dissatisfaction  with  existing  con- 
ditions? Would  it  not  be  ungrateful  on  my 
part  were  I  to  censure  a  social  order  from  which 
I  derive  so  many  benefactions?  Would  paople, 
after  all,  understand  me?  Could  they  place 
themselves  in  my  position  ?  " 

"  But,  alas,  my  lips  sing  praises  to  which  my 
heart  does  not  respond.  1  am  morally  com- 
pelled to  acknowledge  the  present  social  order 
as  perfect,  and  yet  my  soul  rebels  against  it. 
Does  all  this  not  sound  like  the  raving  of  a 
lunatic?  Reader,  do  not  think  that  I  am 
demented.  I  am  sound  in  mind ;  I  feel  what  I 
say  and  say  what  I  feel." 

*'  With  all  its  advantages  over  my  previous 
life,  my  present  existence  does  not  satisfy  ine. 
I  miss  too  many  conditions  that  were  dear  to 
me  by  force  of  habit.  The  very  absence  of 
worry,  of  care,  oppresses  me  like  a  calm  on  the 
ocean  oppresses  the  sailor.  I  do  not  live  —  I 
vegetate.  Not  alone  that  it  is  easy  to  be  good, 
not  alone  that  virtue  has  ceased  to  be  the  result 
of  strife,  it  is  difficulty  nay,  impossible,  to  go 
wrong.  What  glory,  therefore,  in  goodness? 
I  miss  the  shadow  that  relieves  the  dazzling 
light  of  virtue.  Moreover,  in  whatever  relation 
1  am  placed  to  others,  I  find  myself  the  diminu- 
tive, insignificant  part  of  a  whole.  At'cer  I 
have  done  my  best,  I  am  no  more  than  is  my 


YOUNG  WEST.  277 


neighbor,  who  also  has  done  his  best  according 
to  his  abilities.  There  are  no  distioguishing 
lines  between  man  and  man  :  I  am  placed  on  a 
dead  level  with  the  rest;  I  am  lost  in  the 
crowd." 

"•  How  pleasant  it  was  to  hope  for  and  believe 
in  a  reward  for  virtue  and  in  a  punishment  for 
wrong-doing!  How  soothing  was  the  expecta- 
tion that  the  one  who  suffered  on  earth  would 
rejoice  in  another  existence  after  death,  while 
those  who  rejoiced  here  would  be  laid  low 
there.  I  am  robbed  of  this  hope,  of  this  belief, 
of  this  expectation,  because  suffering  on  this 
earth  has  been  reduced  and  wrong-doing  has 
been  eliminated.  No  future  can  be  imagined 
by  the  human  mind  that  would  be  much  im- 
provement on  the  present." 

"Most  all  of  man's  personal  responsibilities 
have  been  taken  from  his  shoulders,  except  the 
one  inclusive  responsibility  of  serving  the  com- 
monwealth to  the  best  of  his  abilities.  The 
parent  is  no  longer  responsible  for  the  proper 
bringing  up  of  his  offspring;  the  husband  is  not 
held  to  protect  his  wife,  neither  is  the  child 
asked  to  assist  the  originators  of  his  existence 
in  their  declining  age.  Wherever  I  turn,  I  con- 
front the  self-same  spectral,  abstract  idea  of  the 
commonwealth.  The  commonwealth  is  the  par- 
ent, the  commonwealth  is  the  child,  the  com- 
monwealth is  the  (iod,  who  carries  all  and  is 
wprshipped  by  all." 

"  True,  that  religion  is  no  longer  needed  to 
curb  the  passions  of  man,  to  inspire  him  to  noble 


-W-lD 


278  YOUNG  WEST. 

deeds ;  true,  that  tbe  very  ideals  of  religion 
have  taken  shape  and  have  enteied  life  as  rt^ali- 
ties,  and  yet  how  I  miss  the  sweet  consolation 
and  the  inspiration  that  came  to  me  in  my  early 
days  through  religious  worship.  At  that  time, 
I  could  pray.  Even  if  I  did  not  expect  that  my 
prayers  should  be  answered,  they  were  at  least 
the  expression  of  my  hopes  for  something 
better ;  but  how  can  I  pray  for  the  better  when  I 
possess  the  best  possible  on  eai'th  ?  " 

"  How  sweet  it  was  to  be  charitable  !  What 
a  pleasure  it  was  to  give  of  my  atiiuence  to 
others;  what  satisfaction  I  derived wiien  I  dried 
a  tear  and  received  the  grateful  look  of  a  person 
whom  I  helped  out  of  his  difficulties !  Now, 
nobody  needs  my  aid;  I  neither  give  nor  receive 
presents !  Economic  equality  has  made  all  free, 
but  has  it  not  at  the  same  time  destroyed  some 
of  the  love  that  springs  from  our  depend- 
ence upon  others,  from  the  acknowledgment  of 
our  weakness?  Can  I  love  the  child  that  grows 
up  in  independence  far  from  me,  and  upon  whom 
I  never  expect  to  depend?  Can  I  love  the  wife 
whom  I  do  not  support  and  protect?  Can  I 
love  a  brother  or  sister  in  blood  with  whom  I 
come  in  contact  but  occasionally,  and  who  stands 
not  nearer  to  me  than  the  thousands  of  others 
with  whom,  and  for  whom,  I  am  expected  to 
work?" 

"  I  own,  I  am  stirred  by  passions.  I  wish  to 
possess,  and  to  possess  things  for  my  own  sole 
benefit.  The  thought  alone  that  a  thing  is  mine 
makes  it  valuable  to  me,  makes  me  care  for  it- 


YOUNG  WEST.  279 


If  I  give  away  to  others  of  what  I  own,  I  want 
to  receive  as  a  reward  the  pleasures  which  char- 
ity inchides.  I  want  the  house  in  which  I  live, 
were  it  but  small,  to  be  mine  ;  the  wife  of  my 
bosom  to  be  unreservedly  mine;  the  child  f 
issue  to  be  mine;  the  field  I  work  in  tohe  mine  ; 
1  want  to  be  free  to  give  what  I  own  to  whom  I 
please." 

''I  will  admit  that  the  social  order  in  which  I 
was  brought  up  had  its  evils.  After  having 
seen  the  present  state  of  society,  I  could  never 
return  and  live  happy  in  the  former.  I  will 
even  confess  that  a  dream  which  once  brought 
me  back  to  it  was  a  horror  to  me  and  made  me 
miserable  for  days;  but,  nevertheless,  I  feel  that 
I  have  bought  the  happiness  of  the  present  at 
too  high  a  price. 

"  I  xearn  for  death  because  I  am  not  fit  to 
live  in  the  present  age  on  account  of  my  early 
education,  and  unfit  to  live  again  in  the  past  on 
account  of  the  lessons  which  the  present  has 
taught  me.  This  discord  is  worse  than  death. 
Wei-e  I  to  praise  the  past  at  the  expense  of  thc 
present,  were  I  to  express  a  wish  for  the  reiistab- 
lishment  of  the  former  social  order,  I  would  be 
untrue ;  so  am  I  untrue  when  I  extol  the 
present.     It  is  well  for  me  to  die." 

The  letter  bore  my  father's  signature  and 
was  dated  one  month  before  his  death.  Having 
read  this  strange  paper,  I  folded  it  and  we 
looked  at  one  another  in  silent  astonishment. 
At  last  Emily  began  : 


280  YOUNG  WEST. 

"  Poor  father  West,  how  T  pity  you.  I  do 
understand  you  ;  therefore  ray  heart  goes  out  to 
you  and  throbs  in  sympathy  for  you,  What  an 
agony,  what  a  torment  life  must  have  been  to 
you! 

I  nodded  assent.  "  Indeed,"  said  I,  "  under  the 
conditions  it  was  fur  better  for  him  to  die  than 
to  live.  Theie  was  no  remedy  for  his  ills.  It 
was  not  the  fault  of  society  that  caused  his 
melancholy  feelings,  it  was  his  early  education 
that  unfitted  him  for  this  life.  He  had  imbibed 
the  ideas  and  principles  upon  which  the  social 
order  of  his  day  was  founded ;  they  had,  so  to 
say,  been  buined  into  his  soul ;  how  could  he 
have  torn  them  out  of  his  heart  with.ut  lacerat- 
ing it  ?  Alas,  we  move  not  in  leaps  and  bounds. 
The  transformation  of  conditions  progresses  too 
slowly  to  be  observed,  so  that  after  a  change  has 
become  noticeable  the  creatures  of  a  former 
stage  have  become  unfit  to  live  in  the  new  world. 
We  cannot  jump  into  a  new  social  order,  but 
must  grow  into  it.  I  am  sure  that  we  could  not 
live  happily  in  the  time  to  come,  say,  one  hundred 
years  from  now,  after  society  will  again  have 
changed  its  forms.  Wise  and  beneficient  is 
nature,  therefore,  that  it  removes  us  from  the 
stage  when  a  new  play,  for  which  we  have  not 
rehearsed,  is  to  be  enacted.     The  wish  to  live 


YOUNG  WEST.  281 

in  a  future  age,  or  to  have  lived  in  the  past,  con- 
sideis  not  our  fitness,  or  rather  unfitness,  to 
accomodate  ourselves  to  a  different  order  of 
things  from  that  in  which  we  were  raised.  The 
present  only  is  ours  ;  to  the  present  we  belong ; 
with  the  present  let  us  die." 

"  You  are  right,"  said  Emily,  "  no  matter  how 
glorious  conditions,  that  are  to  come,  may  ap- 
pear to  be,  we  could  never  enjoy  them  unless 
we  had  grown  into  them.  Yo^jr  father's  con- 
fession makes  me  think  of  his  many  contem- 
poraries, who,  as  we  know,  dreamed  in  the  tur- 
moil of  their  time  of  an  order  of  society  similar 
to  ours.  Suffering  from  the  evils  that  sprang 
from  the  competitive  strife  in  which  they  were 
engaged,  they  wished  for  conditions  like  ours, 
they  wished,  for  economic  equality,  for  a  time 
of  peace  and  universal  happiness,  resulting  from 
the  recognition  of  every  person's  right  to  life, 
and  the  enjoyment  of  life.  If  they  could  have 
realized  their  wishes  of  a  sudden  ;  if,  like  your 
father,  they  could  have  passed  the  period  of 
transition  in  sleep  and  that  kingdom  of  heaven, 
the  establishment  and  realization  of  economic 
equality  would  have  suddenly  fallen  upon  them, 
they  would  have  become  as  dissatisfied  and 
melancholy  as  has  your  father,  simply  because 
they  were  not  ready  to  pay  the  price  for  these 


282  YOUNG  WEST. 


new  institutions,  simply  because  they  would  not 
or  could  not  have  put  away  the  ideas,  associ- 
ations, customs  and  views  of  life  under  which 
they  had  been  reared." 

"  Shall  I  publish  this  letter,"  asked  I  ? 

"  I  think  it  best  to  tear  up  the  manuscript," 
replied  Emily,  "  because  its  publication  would 
destroy  the  reverence  and  the  respect  in  which 
your  father's  memory  is  held  among  us.  Were 
it  not  for  that  ^consideration,  I  would  advise  to 
publish  it,  in  order  to  warn  some  of  our  own 
contemporaries  who,  like  your  father  and  the 
people  of  his  time,  hope  so  much  from  the 
future,  never  to  expect  that  they  themselves 
could  ever  live  happy  iu  a  commonwealth  as 
they  construct  it  in  their  thoughts.  They 
might  learn  from  your  father's  sad  experience 
that  the  social  reformer  must  be  unselfishness 
personified.  He  must  never  expect  to  derive 
any  benefit  for  himself ;  he  must  never  hope  to 
enter  himself  the  land  into  which  he  is  leading 
others;  he  must  never  try  to  hasten  the  natural 
and  rational  development  of  conditions.  He 
may  show  the  way ;  he  may  prophesy  what  will 
happen  ;  he  may  argue  the  justice  of  a  measure, 
or  denounce  the  injustice  of  an  established  law; 
he  may  prepare  the  minds  of  people  for  the 
coming  change,  but  beyond  that  he  must  not  go." 


YOUNG  WEST.  283 

We  cut  the  paper  into  small  pieces,  opened 
the  window,  and  in  small  portions  we  allowed 
the  wind  to  carry  over  hill  and  dale  the  confes- 
sions of  Julian  West,  senior. 

******** 

I  have  no  fault  to  find  with  ray  conditions. 
Though  I  am  approaching  the  end  of  my  life, 
there  is  sunshine  behind  me,  light  before  me. 
When  the  hour  of  departure  will  strike,  I  will 
die  satisfied  that  I  have  enjoyed  every  moment 
of  life,  and  that  I  have  given  an  equivalent  for 
every  enjoyment  by  faithful  work.  I  feel  grate- 
ful that  I  was  permitted  to  pass  my  existence 
now,  and  not  in  my  father's  time,  and  although 
my  faith  is  firm  that  mankind  will  advance  and 
reach  a  still  higher  plane  of  culture,  I  do  not 
yeai'n  to  live  in  that  future  time. 

The  experiences  of  my  life  are  the  experiences 
of  all  the  members  of  the  present  socia,l  order, 
in  a  general  way  ;  they  may  vary  in  color,  but 
they  do  not  vary  in  kind.  We  are  forming  one 
happy  family.     Indeed : 

"  This  world  is  full  of  beauty,  as  other  worlds  above; 
Because  we  do  our  duty,  it  is  as  full  of  love." 

THE    END. 


i 


^^^1 

J 


321.07 


So56Y 


'i24332 


